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It comes as senior police officers warned the public “not to let their guard slip during the festive period”. Since March 2017, police have halted 18 plots related to Islamist extremism, 12 linked to extreme Right-wing terrorism and two to Left, anarchist or “single-issue terrorism”. And in the year to September, 13 percent of arrests relating to terror were of children, the highest proportion recorded in a 12-month period – up from 8 percent the previous year.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Dean Haydon, the senior national ­co-ordinator for CTP, said Britons should be aware that “the UK has ­suffered two terror attacks in quick succession, with the national threat level raising to severe – meaning an attack is highly likely”.

He added: “All of this combines to paint a picture of a sustained and high-tempo threat, which our world-class police, security and intelligence services are doing everything in their power to combat.

“But it takes a whole society approach to effectively tackle terrorism, and co-operation between the police and the public is vital, so we need you to be vigilant and alert.

“As we approach the festive period, we need the public to help play their part in protecting the UK.”

Mr Haydon also expressed concern that “an increasing proportion of our arrests” were of minors, in light of alarming Home Office figures published on Thursday.

“But it doesn’t have to be this way,” he said. “Ideally we would identify when a young person is being led towards terrorist activity and use the Prevent programme to try and put them on a different path.”

He urged parents and other relatives to seek support if they fear a loved one might be following a “dangerous path towards extremism”.

Despite an overall drop in arrests, largely due to a fall in crime amid lockdown restrictions, 25 children were detained over terror crimes in the year to September.

Earlier this year, the boss of MI5 revealed that agents were investigating teenagers as young as 13.

The threat of extreme right-wing terrorism had “grown and morphed quite substantially over the last five to 10 years”, with a “high prevalence of teenagers”, MI5 director general Ken McCallum said.

He emphasised that tackling the scourge would require “new expertise, new sources, new methods”.

He added: “It is already the case that in quite a range of our investigations, we do sadly see teenagers, minors, under the age of 18, some under the age of 16, presenting sharp risk.”

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