Terror Police Urge Travel Vigilance

25 November 2014, 06:16 | Updated: 25 November 2014, 06:36

Police are calling on people to work together to protect the country's border as they visit transport hubs as part of Counter Terrorism Awareness Week.

Officers from Police Scotland and British Transport Police are visiting airports, train and bus stations and ports today to raise awareness of the work they, and other agencies, are doing to protect the transport network.

Staff who work across transport hubs will receive training to look out for suspicious behaviour and learn what they should do if an attack were to happen, while members of the public will be encouraged to report suspicious activity.

Police have also warned that anyone who seeks to travel by air or by sea to engage in terrorist activity in Syria should be in no doubt that police will take the "strongest possible action'' to protect national security, including prosecuting those who break the law.

Superintendent Alan Crawford said: "Police Scotland Border Policing Command welcomes this opportunity to raise the awareness of Counter Terrorism across the transport hubs and wider business community in Scotland.

"Airports and seaports are vibrant transport hubs where the public work and transit on a daily basis. These ports are, in their own right, communities where there is an opportunity for us all to report suspicious activity no matter how insignificant this may seem.

"At a time of increased threat levels, and with the focus on Syria and the Middle East, it is vital that collectively we work together to protect our border.''

Scotland has suffered terrorist attacks with the Lockerbie bombing in 1988 and the attack at Glasgow Airport in 2007.

The UK-wide Counter Terrorism Awareness Week is designed to make the public aware of the terrorist threat level and ask for their help in reporting suspicious activity.

The terror threat level was recently increased to severe, meaning that an attack in the UK is ''highly likely'', although there is said to be no specific intelligence of any planned attack.

As part of today's activity there will be Safer Travel Days at Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen airports. Officers will be on hand to speak and give advice to members of the public who are travelling.

There will also be additional high visibility patrols around airports, train and bus stations as well as at ports the length and breath of the country.

David Wilson, Chief Operating Officer at Edinburgh Airport, said: "Keeping our passengers safe and secure is our number one priority and we work very closely with Police Scotland to ensure Edinburgh Airport is a safe environment for everyone.

"By supporting Counter Terrorism Week we're playing our part in a much wider operation to ensure the safety of all passengers and employees. Events like today's Safer Travel Day are vital to help educate people on how to spot potentially suspicious behaviour.''