Armed police officers will continue to patrol Cornwall’s streets this bank holiday weekend, despite the terror threat level for the UK as a whole being reduced today.

Prime Minister Theresa May announced this morning that the threat was now ‘severe,’ one step down from the highest level of ‘critical’ where it was placed in the wake of Monday’s bombing in Manchester.

It means that an attack is now only ‘highly likely’ rather than judged to be ‘imminent.’

However, it has been confirmed that nationally police will continue to carry guns until midnight on Monday.

Thursday’s announcement that armed officers carrying long-armed firearms would be seen as part of the Devon and Cornwall Police presence is the first time this has happened in this county.

Assistant Chief Constable Sharon Taylor, said this afternoon: “As people will be aware, the Prime Minister has now reduced the national security threat level from critical to severe.

“However, she has also said that the additional resources given from the military will remain in place until midnight on Monday. Therefore, we will continue to maintain an overt firearms presence across Devon & Cornwall and Dorset during the bank holiday weekend, and as a result the public may see more officers out on the streets.

“We would like to remind people that they should remain alert, not alarmed, and to support us in keeping our region safe by keeping an eye out for anything that seems out of place, unusual or doesn’t seem to fit with day to day life. 

“If anyone sees anything suspicious that they believe may be related to terrorism, they can report this to the Anti-Terrorist Hotline on 0800 789321 or call 999.”