ANTI-TERROR precautions in York city centre could be made permanent by council decisions in coming weeks.

A dozen stone blocks were installed outside York Minster, and more temporary measures were fitted at points around the city last year in an effort to tackle the threat of attacks which use vehicles as weapons, as seen in Toronto, the US, London and Nice.

Reports before the Economy and Place Development Committee this week and next week’s Executive meeting will review all city centre access points, with changes to the ‘priority zone’ - which includes Parliament Street, St Sampson’s Square, High Ousegate and Spurriergate, Coney Street, Davygate, Finkle Street, Church Street and Jubbergate - including a long-term plan to create permanent anti-terror measures in place of the current, temporary ones.

The council will introduce this as a six-month experimental traffic order, to see how the measures would impact on residents, retailers and disabled people.

Council leader Ian Gillies said: “The safety of everyone in our city is our highest priority. While terror attacks in the UK are very rare, we simply have to act to deter would-be attackers and reassure the public that we’re alive to the risks.

“We’ve worked with the police, counter-terrorist unit and city partners like the racecourse and Minster to introduce temporary measures to reduce the threat of a vehicle accessing high footfall and event spaces in the city. We’ve commissioned experts who are used to working in places with a special, historic character so we can find permanent security measures which are fitting for our city.”

Superintendent Lindsey Robson, commander for the York and Selby area, said: “The national threat level remains severe which means a terrorist attack is highly likely and is likely to come without notice. This combined with the shift in methods from complex, coordinated attacks that we’ve seen around the world, to more basic attacks in the UK using hire cars and knives, means that we must do all that we can to protect the city from such attacks.”

Cllr Andrew Waller, deputy leader of the council, said both meetings would determine “the best possible outcome for the city centre”.

He said: “The security of our residents and visitors must take priority and as a Council, we are determined to work with all groups in the city to minimise any potential impact.

“We are acutely aware of the advice we have received from the police, whilst at the same time recognising the need to engage with those with the highest access needs, so it is our focus to make sure that we are doing all we can to develop the best solution.”

Supt Robson said there was also “a lot going on behind the scenes”, between North Yorkshire Police and counter terrorism police, “to prevent, disrupt and deter dangerous extremists across the country”, and urged anyone with suspicions to contact 0800 789321 or 999 in an emergency.