People are being urged to speak up about suspicious activity they see in order to help prevent terror attacks occurring.

The latest phase of Hertfordshire Constabulary’s Action Counters Terrorism (ACT) campaign launches today after figures from UK Counter Terrorism Policing revealed that more than a fifth of reports from the public produce intelligence which is helpful to police.

Neil Basu, who was recently appointed assistant commissioner of specialist operations for the Metropolitan Police, praised the public’s willingness to act in response to last year’s unprecedented rise in terrorist activity.

He said this resulted in record numbers of people contacting the police through online referral forms and the confidential hotline to report suspicious behaviour and activity.

Now he is launching the next phase of the ACT campaign, featuring a new 60-second film based on real life foiled plots, which will show examples of terrorist-related suspicious activity and behaviour.

Mr Basu explained that the video aims to educate the public about terrorist attack planning and reinforce the message that any piece of information, no matter how small, could make the difference between a “lethal attack or a successful disruption”.

He said: “We have been saying for some time now that communities defeat terrorism, and these figures demonstrate just how important members of the public are in the fight to keep our country safe.

“Since the beginning of 2017 we have foiled 10 Islamist and four right wing terror plots, and there is no doubt in my mind that would have been impossible to do without relevant information from the public.”

You can report suspicious activity to the police by calling 101 or visiting the ACT website: www.gov.uk/ACT.