Title

WHITEHALL

Government warns queues could be new terror target

Queue-filled high streets could be a new target for marauding terrorists using a vehicle as a weapon, the Government has warned.

Queue-filled high streets could be a new target for marauding terrorists using a vehicle as a weapon, the Government has warned.

The Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure, a government authority, has drawn up guidance advising organisations on ‘practical and achievable measures to either deter or disrupt a vehicle as a weapon attack against queuing formed through the introduction of social distancing measures'.

It advised that queues should be positioned away from roads, and behind the likes of vehicle barriers, street furniture and bollards.

The guidance read: ‘While dense crowding is unlikely if social distancing is operating correctly, the revised layout of spaces may present new security risks, particularly where multiple queues are created.

'Operators should NOT remove any security features or useful street furniture items without considering protective security in the round.

‘Where long or multiple queues form, consider deploying vehicle barriers along the footway to disrupt a vehicle being able to drive down its length.'

WHITEHALL

Is public service delivery really dead?

By Ben Page | 22 July 2026

Performance alone does not win public trust. While better outcomes matter, public opinion is shaped much more by how services are experienced, communicated a...

WHITEHALL

A generational chance to rethink digital government

By Martin Ford | 22 July 2026

As local government undergoes widespread reorganisation, Oracle and The MJ held a timely round table looking at the impact on digital transformation. Martin ...

WHITEHALL

Making the right choice for the next generation

By Emmet Regan | 09 July 2026

Emmet Regan looks at the factors to consider when choosing the best model for the delivery of children’s services during local government reorganisation.

WHITEHALL

Local government reorganisation: What councils must get right

By Elliott Fletcher | 23 June 2026

Most LGR savings assumptions won't deliver without this – what every council must get right before day one.

Dan Peters

Popular articles by Dan Peters