Brussels attacks: Security stepped up at UK airports amid terror fears after deadly explosions in Belgium

Security is being stepped up at UK airports, major train stations and other transport hubs and border checks tightened at the Channel ports, in the wake of the Brussels terror attacks, David Cameron has said.

The Prime Minister condemned the “appalling and savage” attacks at Zaventum Airport and on the Brussels metro system, which have killed at least 26 people. He said that Britain faced a “a very real terror threat”.

Downing Street confirmed that one British citizen had been injured in the airport attack, but said there were no confirmed reports of other British casualties. No details have been released about the identity of the British national, or the severity of their injuries.

While police patrols at key locations around the UK will be stepped up, the Prime Minister’s spokesperson said there was currently no reason to increase the UK’s terror alert level from severe, to the highest level: critical

St Pancras International train station will see increased police patrols as will other areas of the capital’s transport network, while UK Border Force staff at the French Channel ports and train terminals at Calais and Coquelles will tighten security measures and carry out extra sniffer dog searches.

Mr Cameron chaired a meeting of the Government’s emergency Cobra committee this morning, attended by security, intelligence and police chiefs, as well as the Mayor of London Boris Johnson.

The Prime Minister said: “These are appalling and savage terrorist attacks…they could just have as well be attacks in Britain or France or Germany or elsewhere in Europe. We need to stand together against these appalling terrorists and make sure they can never win.”

Mr Cameron has contacted Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel to express his condolences and offer logistical support of the Metropolitan Police in Belgium’s investigations following the attacks.

Downing Street refused to be drawn into a discussion of the political implications of the attacks to Britain’s EU referendum debate, after UKIP’s defence spokesperson Mike Hookem cited the atrocities as evidence that free movement in the EU was a “threat to our security”.

“First and foremost today is a day about supporting Belgium and the Belgian people…We should realise this is a shared threat and a shared threat that we should be working together to tackle, as we have been,” the Prime Minster’s spokesperson said.