UK prepares to deploy army, raises threat level to maximum

British Prime Minister Theresa May said the UK has raised the threat level to maximum and the government was preparing to send soldiers on to streets as a second terror attack may be imminent after the Manchester pop concert bombing.

May raised the threat level from severe to critical for the first time since 2007, saying the decision was taken after security forces were unable to rule out if Salman Abedi, the British-born suspect behind Monday's suicide bombing at the concert in Manchester city that killed 22 people, acted alone.

The raising of the threat level mean further attacks may be imminent. The move will see the Army deployed to secure key sites.

"It is a possibility that we cannot ignore, that there is a wider group of individuals linked to this attack," May said in a live address late last night after she chaired a meeting of the government's emergency response Cobra committee.

She said: "The change in the threat level means that there will be additional resources and support made available to the police as they work to keep us all safe".

"As a result of (the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre's) decision the police have asked for authorisation from the Secretary of State for Defence to deploy a number of armed military personnel in support of their armed officers."

She said the request was part of an established plan known as Operation Temperer. "This means that armed police officers responsible for duties such as guarding key sites will be replaced by members of the armed forces, which will allow the police to significantly increase the number of armed officers on patrol in key locations."