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WATER supplies are
in the frontline of a feared terror offensive on
Britain, it emerged yesterday.
A major water
company has warned customers of "third party damage"
that could disrupt the system.
And there are
suspicions that a six-strong al-Qaeda cell known to be
on the loose here may be planning to contaminate
supplies with poison.
Experts say pumping
stations and pipelines are vulnerable to attack - with
the London network an especially easy target.
Water consultant
Hugh Allan warned: "Anyone who is halfway determined can
get into a pumping station.
"There are only
basic security measures. Fundamentally, they are
designed to be vandal-resistant and not
anti-terrorist.
"Within a pumping
station, there are several vulnerable points where
someone could get access to the water and introduce an
agent."
Water firms across
the country have been urged to tighten security and
offered advice by MI5.
Scottish Water has
been ordered to build new perimeter fences around the
Mugdock reservoir in Milngavie, which supplies most of
Glasgow's drinking water.
Cuts in supplies
would cripple hospitals, schools and business.
Disease could
spread rapidly without fresh water for cooking and
cleaning. Poisoned water - possibly from cyanide, ricin
or cholera bacteria - could be drunk for days before the
danger became apparent.
In an alert this
month, Thames Water issued "business resilience advice"
to customers
It said "No water
supply is infallible, there may be disruptions because
of third party damage.
"The network in
London has felt the indirect impact of terrorist bombs
in the past. In most cases an alternative source can be
provided through the network, but on occasions the
supply may fail."
Hospitals, prisons
and care homes would then get priority for fresh
supplies, said Thames. It outlined its emergency plans
on a little-known Government website about international
terrorism.
Businesses were
urged to take precautionary measures by checking storage
tanks and fitting low-water alarms.
Fears of poisoning
were heightened last weekend when intelligence documents
warned that a group of Islamic militants was at large in
the UK.
The cell, at least
six in number, is said to be working on a plot to
contaminate water.
Plans for an
attack, possibly involving suicide bombers, have been
drawn up by the group based in London and Luton.
It is part of the
al-Tauhid organisation, which advocates a holy war and
is blamed for a series of terror assaults over the last
three years.
The cell's
operations in Hamburg have been disrupted.
Contaminating
supplies could be as easy as a direct attack on a
pumping station, say experts. Andy Oppenheimer, a
terrorism expert for Jane's Defence Journal, said: "A
binful of cyanide would cause thousands of people to
become incapacitated.
"And there are
hundreds of cheap and easily available chemicals that
would do the same."
London is seen as
high risk because its water is fed from a single pipe,
the 50-mile London Ring Main.
The network, big
enough to drive a black cab through, circles the capital
40 metres below ground and supplies five million people
a day. Yet access points are unguarded and security
measures light.
Water firms would
be unlikely to pick up poisoning until people became
ill. It would then take weeks for the supply to be
stopped, systems cleaned, checked and re-started.
Thousands of
businesses would be badly affected by any
disruption.
Food manufacturers
use thousands of gallons a day for washing and preparing
meals.
Restaurants, pubs
and breweries would all have to close.
The authorities
also fear that panic buying of bottled water by a public
unused to dealing with shortages could cause chaos. A
senior Home Office source said it took all threats
seriously and was constantly updating advice.
The Government has
said it has no "specific" intelligence about a planned
attack by al-Qaeda.
But a security
clampdown around key sites has been put in place in
recent weeks.
A ring of concrete
blockades was erected outside Parliament to stop truck
bombers.
Machine-gun patrols
were stepped up at strategic points such as Heathrow
airport.
Days ago Osama bin
Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, called on Muslims to
attack British and American targets.
Police will be
granted extra powers next week in a Government Bill on
the response to terrorist incidents.
Expectations that
Britain will be targeted have grown since the war
against Iraq.
Before Parliament's
barricades went up, the Prime Minister was told at
meetings of the emergency Cobra committee that it would
make sense to seal off the Palace of Westminster.
Some of the royal
palaces, particularly St James's, are seen as an easy
target. So too are many of the government buildings
around Whitehall.
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