The high risk within crowded areas revolves around easy access to areas, the limited protective security measures and the prospect of high casualty rates.
The Home Office defines a crowded place as ‘a location or environment to which members of the public have access that may be considered potentially liable to terrorist attack by virtue of its crowd density.' These include transport hubs, sports stadia, pubs/club bars, shopping centers/high streets, visitor attractions, cinemas and theaters.
Security threats will depend on how often the area being considered has a high population of visitors. If the visitor number is only high at certain points in the year to coincide with a planned event then temporary measures may be all that is required. If a venue or area is consistently seeing high foot flow traffic, then more permanent and comprehensive measures may need to be considered.
