Music festivals and large sporting events will be on “high alert” for terror attacks, a senior Metropolitan Police officer has said.

Speaking to The Sunday Times, Neil Basu, deputy assistant commissioner with the Met, said that Isis suicide bombers were considered by police to pose a “principal threat” to public security.

“These people are perfectly happy to target civilians with the maximum terror impact,” Basu said. “Crowded places were always a concern for us, but now they are right at the top of the agenda.”

Basu, who is in charge of the UK’s protective security, also expressed concern about small concert venues and nightclubs after the attacks on the Bataclan theatre in Paris.

Large-scale sporting events are also high on the Met’s priority list, Basu said. He recently travelled to France for a briefing on the security measures being put in place at the UEFA European Championship, which begins 10 June.