Serious flaws in terror shield

Flaws in Britain's readiness for a chemical or biological terror attack were revealed by leading scientists today.

A year-long investigation by the Royal Society uncovered major problems in detecting poisons and dealing with the aftermath of an atrocity.

The study warns that Britain needs to step up its vigilance to stop al Qaeda launching an attack using germs or gases, and says plans need to be drawn up for after a biological attack.

Ministers including Home Secretary David Blunkett and Health Secretary John Reid are today reading the report, which comes amid mounting fear of a terrorist strike.

This month Scotland Yard foiled an al Qaeda plot to attack Tube commuters with the potentially lethal gas osium tetroxide, and last year a police raid in north London discovered traces of the deadly poison ricin.

Professor Herbert Huppert, chairman of the Royal Society's working group that produced the report, said preparations had to be stepped up in case the "nightmare scenario" happened.

Among the key recommendations are:

The scientists who produced the report include experts in medicine, chemistry and biology, as well as public health and epidemiology specialists.

They were given unprecedented access to the secret plans for dealing with a chemical attack and held talks with weapons experts from Porton Down, the top-secret weapons research facility. The working group took thousands of pages of written evidence, conducted interviews and made site visits.

The report will be considered in detail by the emergency services, government and local authority planners and hospital chiefs.

Preparations for a so-called unconventional attack have been stepped up since the September 11 terror strike and the October 2001 anthrax attacks in the US.

Last year an unprecedented exercise simulating a chemical weapon release at Bank Tube station was held to test the emergency services' readiness.