London car bomb 'packed with petrol, nails, gas canisters'

A car bomb defused in central London today was packed with petrol, nails and gas canisters, police have revealed.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, head of Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism command, said: “It is obvious that if the device had detonated there could have been significant injury or loss of life.”

Bomb squad officers defused the bomb after police received reports of a suspicious vehicle in the early hours close to the Tiger Tiger nightclub in the heart of London’s West End.

Mr Clarke said an ambulance crew in the area reported that there was smoke inside the car.

He said it was too early to speculate about who was involved and he called on the public to remain vigilant.

Sources said that the police and security services were looking at possible international links - including similarities to car bombs used by insurgents in Iraq.

“It is entirely possible. There are various things – it is outside a nightclub, it is a vehicle-borne device, it is close to the anniversary of the July 7 attacks. But we are keeping an open mind,” one source said.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the incident showed that Britain faces “a serious and continuous threat” and the public “need to be alert” at all times.

He said: “I will stress to the Cabinet that the vigilance must be maintained over the next few days.”

Speaking in her first full day in the job, British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said: “What I think is very important is that the public remain vigilant at all times.

“Obviously the police are investigating and I think we should allow them to get on with that without undue speculation.”

A police cordon was thrown around the Haymarket area of central London, causing massive disruption to thousands of rush-hour commuters.

Forensic officers supervised the removal of the metallic light-green Mercedes saloon in a covered transporter lorry.

The alert came almost two years since four suicide bombers brought carnage to London’s transport network, claiming the lives of 52 people on July 7.

Police said they were alerted shortly before 2am today to reports of a suspicious vehicle.

One witness said the car was seen being driven “erratically” before it collided with some bins or bin bags on the pavement.

The driver ran off, apparently uninjured by the minor collision, which did not damage the vehicle. The lights of the car were left on.

Police used a remote-controlled vehicle to investigate the car before bomb squad officers made the device safe.

The British government’s emergency response committee, Cobra, met this morning at official rather than ministerial level before briefing the Cabinet on the dramatic events.

The current threat level for terrorism in the UK, set by MI5, is classed as “severe”, one level lower than the highest “critical”.

Security experts said the bomb could have been timed to coincide with the change at the top of government.

Michael Clarke, Professor of Defence at King’s College London, said whoever was behind the intended attack would have left a lot of information at the scene which would help police track them down.

He said security services would now be concerned that the bomb may be part of a wider plot, and that there could be other devices planted around the capital.

“They will find out about this very quickly,” he said.

“Any car coming into central London would be on a lot of surveillance footage. Also nobody can make a bomb without leaving behind a lot of DNA.”