Fear of al Qaeda plot as second car bomb found

Police said they believed that the vehicles were linked bombing attempts which have all the hallmarks of al Qaeda. Both cars were packed with petrol, gas canisters and nails.

The second lethal device was discovered in a blue Mercedes 280E which had been towed away after being found illegally parked in Cockspur Street, close to Trafalgar Square, around 2.30am yesterday.

Westminster Council last night confirmed it was taken to an underground car park near Park Lane, which was being used as a vehicle pound.

Police were alerted to it later in the day after staff who had heard about the Haymarket car bomb noticed a strong smell of petrol coming from the Mercedes.

Metropolitan Police deputy assistant commissioner Peter Clarke said last night: "The discovery of what appears to be a second bomb is obviously troubling and reinforces the need for the public to be alert."

Mr Clarke went on: "The vehicle was found to contain very similar materials to those that were found in the first car in Haymarket earlier. There was a considerable amount of fuel and gas canisters. As in the first vehicle there was also a substantial quantity of nails.

"This, like the first device, was potentially viable and was made safe by the explosives officers."

Mr Clarke said the police were doing "everything possible to protect the public" and said there would be more police patrols.

People who perceived any type of immediate threat from a suspicious vehicle or "any other cause" should call 999, he said.

He also appealed to anybody who saw the blue Mercedes parked in Cockspur Street early yesterday or who had any other information to contact the confidential anti-terrorist hotline.

As terror experts suggested the bomb attempts might have been planned to coincide with the new Prime Minister taking office, Gordon Brown urged people to be vigilant "over the next few days", mindful that the second anniversary of the 7/7 London bombings is next Saturday.

Britain, he said, faced a "serious and continuous threat" and he stressed the public needed to be alert at all times.

Security chiefs admitted there was no intelligence about yesterday's bombing bids, which were the priority subject at a morning meeting of the cabinet.

Cobra, the government's emergency committee, was convened and chaired by Jacqui Smith, the new Home Secretary, who took over the reins of Whitehall's counter-terrorism strategy only hours earlier. Another Cobra meeting was due to be held today.

Praising the bravery of those who defused the bombs, she urged the public to report "anything suspicious" to the police. Since August 2006, the terrorism threat level has been at severe, one level lower than the highest one of critical.

The first bomb was in a green Mercedes car parked in Haymarket, near Piccadilly Circus. It was found around 1.30am yesterday when London's West End would have been packed with people leaving its many nightclubs.

An ambulance crew which had been called to a man who had fallen ill at the Tiger Tiger nightclub noticed a Mercedes car was filling up with fumes.

The police were alerted and a bomb disposal team was quickly at the scene. The device was judged to be a "potentially viable explosive" and the nightclub was evacuated.

Reports said a quick-thinking police officer disconnected a mobile phone he found in the car before bomb squad officers arrived. Mobiles have been used to detonate bombs in Iraq, Indonesia and in other terrorist atrocities such as the 2004 Madrid bombings.

It was also claimed that nightclub bouncers saw the Mercedes being driven erratically before it crashed into a bin and the driver got out and ran off.

Last night, clubs and bars in London's West End remained defiantly busy, with drinkers determined to carry on with their evening plans undeterred by the failed terrorist attacks.