BRITONS were advised by the Government yesterday to have batteries, bottled water, tinned food and blankets in their homes in case of a terrorist attack.

The advice, the first official word from ministers, was placed unannounced on a Home Office website three hours before Parliament backed military action against Iraq. Ministers insisted that there was no specific evidence of a threatened attack, but there is fear that the start of the war could lead to a terrorist attack against Britain or the United States.

Their view was supported by Sir John Stevens, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, who told his senior commanders yesterday that they must be on alert for a potential terrorist attack. An exercise simulating a terrorist strike on a London Underground station has been postponed because of new security demands on the police in London.

The low-key entry was placed under the terrorism section of the Home Office website. It suggested that having essentials on hand was the kind of “sensible precaution” to take in the event of severe weather or flooding. Whitehall officials insisted that the message was that the public should be alert but not alarmed: “We are absolutely not saying: ‘Go out and start panic-buying.’ ”

A Home Office spokeswoman emphasised that the updated information was not urging people to stockpile food and water. “It is sensible to have a few bottles of water and some food around, just in case supplies are cut off,” she said. “It is certainly not advising people to stockpile against the threat of terrorism.”

The kinds of food that people should consider buying include tins of tuna, salmon, sweetcorn, baked beans, rice pudding and fruit. The Government last issued similar guidance in 1980, when it published Protect and Survive, which provided guidance on how to survive a nuclear attack.

Supermarkets said that there was no need to stockpile food. They are adamant that there is no threat to supplies and urged people to shop sensibly and to be prepared if there were any local emergency.

Co-ordination of supply is led by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which has set up a Food Chain Emergency Liaison Committee with representatives from all parts of the food supply chain, as well as civil servants.

A Tesco spokesman said that people were shopping fairly normally. “People are buying an extra item in some cases, two bags of pasta instead of one, for example,” he said. There was also little change in buying habits at Sainsbury’s although a number of Waitrose stores have reported extra sales of bottled water.

The Home Office advice does not specify how many days’ supply of food should be stored and falls far short of the guidance issued in America on how to cope with chemical, biological and nuclear attacks.

In its 56-page report, Are you Ready?, the US Government told its public to prepare a “safe room” in their homes and stock up at least three days’ supply of food and bottled water with a battery-powered radio, clothes, sleeping bags and cotton filter masks or a T-shirt to cover the mouth and nose.

Tom Ridge, Director of US Homeland Defence, said that by wrapping a room with plastic rubbish bags and tape, and switching off the air-conditioning and heating, a family could protect itself for the few hours it takes for deadly chemicals to disperse. America also suggests putting tape on windows to prevent them shattering and to stop gas seeping in through cracks.

The Home Office website said that there was no need for the public to buy gas masks or protective clothing. In the event of a terrorist attack, the website advised: “If you are at the site of an incident, follow the instruction of the emergency services. If it is a major incident and you are not in the immediate area, our advice is to ‘go in, stay in, tune in’. It is always sensible to have a battery-powered or wind-up radio in the house to prepare for a range of emergencies, including power cuts and floods.”

The Government would not be issuing a leaflet giving advice on a chemical or biological attack, it added, because “there is no such thing as a standard chemical or biological incident, and therefore no such thing as a standard response”.

If a terrorist attack takes place while children are at school, police will work with schools to ensure that children are protected, it said. “The action taken would depend on the incident itself, and would not be very different from the emergency plans that schools already have for fire evacuations and bomb threats.”

Scotland Yard is planning to send up to 600 extra officers on to the streets of Central London in rapid-response patrols to guard against the possibility of a terrorist attack and to provide protection for Muslim communities in the event of a backlash when war starts. A total of 3,500 officers will be on duty on Saturday as up to 100,000 peace marchers demonstrate through Central London for five hours.

Getting ready for an attack

Home Office guidance:

• Sensible precautions:

  It is sensible to be prepared for any emergency in the home and to make plans for any major disruption, including severe weather and floods

• In any type of emergency, you could lose access to power, water, telephones and roads. Therefore:

• Have on hand such items as:

  Batteries
  A torch
  A battery-powered or wind-up radio
  Tinned food
  Blankets

• Have phone numbers of local police, council, utility companies and family members handy in one place
• Make sure you know where main switches for electricity, water and gas are located in your home, as you may need to turn them off in an emergency

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