Fears ISIS wants to carry out a 'door-to-door massacre' in the British countryside has led to plans for a new rural anti-terror base, it has been claimed.
Authorities are concerned jihadis could commit a mass shooting in a rural area with gunmen slaughtering villages instead of previous, more urban targets, security experts say.
It is also feared that the scenes of terror seen in Tunisia last year could be replicated in British holiday camps.
In response police are planning an intelligence-gathering base in south west England equipped with a unit of specialist firearms officers on standby to deal with any terror threat, it has been reported.
It will cover Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and some of Gloucestershire as part of a five-year £143 million plan to boost Britain’s armed policing capability, according to the Sunday Express.
Experts say extremists plotting attacks favour “off the radar” areas where police forces are equipped with fewer resources.
Intelligence official Claude Moniquet, of the European Strategic Intelligence and Security Center, said jihadis want to target people in their houses – “somewhere people think of as being safe”.
He told the Express: “The great fear, and it’s something that’s being taken increasingly seriously, is that terrorists want to hit a remote country town or village and go from house to house shooting people.”
Mr Moniquet added: “What we’ve drawn from that message is that IS wants to kill people in their homes.”
Che Donald of the Police Federation of England and Wales said officials hope the new hub will better equip police to secure rural Britain against attacks.
He told the paper: “Recent training exercises have tried to incorporate every eventuality that may present itself from a terrorist attack which includes an incident taking place in a rural location."
A total of 39 people were killed on the Sousse beach last year when Seifeddine Rezgui began gunning down tourists in Tunisia.
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