Paris attacks: Police missed chance to detain suspect who is now subject of international manhunt

French authorities missed an opportunity to catch a suspect who is now the subject of an international manhunt in the wake of the Paris attacks.

A wanted notice was issued on Sunday night in the search for Salah Abdeslam, a 26-year-old Frenchman born in Belgian capital Brussels.

But just hours after the carnage on Friday he was questioned and released after a car he was in was pulled over near the Belgian border.

By then, Saturday morning, hours had passed since Abdeslam had been identified as the renter of a Volkswagen Polo that carried hostage takers to the Bataclan concert hall which became the scene of a massacre.

Members of the public are now being warned he is dangerous and have been told: "Do not intervene yourself".

The development came as David Cameron said the UK's safety and security depended on "degrading and ultimately destroying" the Islamic State (IS) "death cult".

Before the wanted notice was issued, police investigating Friday's attacks said they were searching for a Frenchman believed to have been directly involved in the violence.

The man, one of three brothers believed to be involved in the killings in central Paris, is said to have rented a black Volkswagen Polo used by the attackers who left at least 89 people dead inside the Bataclan concert hall.

British police and spies are working closely with counterparts in France and Belgium to identify and pursue those behind the massacre.

Security has been beefed up in UK cities and ports as Britons were urged to remain vigilant, although the terror threat level has not been changed from the second-highest "severe" rating.

Speaking after leading a meeting of the Government's Cobra emergency committee, Home Secretary Theresa May said the UK authorities were working to find anyone involved in the "barbaric attacks" in the French capital.