Queue-filled high streets could be a new target for marauding terrorists using a vehicle as a weapon, the Government has warned.

The Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure, a government authority, has drawn up guidance advising organisations on ‘practical and achievable measures to either deter or disrupt a vehicle as a weapon attack against queuing formed through the introduction of social distancing measures'.

It advised that queues should be positioned away from roads, and behind the likes of vehicle barriers, street furniture and bollards.

The guidance read: ‘While dense crowding is unlikely if social distancing is operating correctly, the revised layout of spaces may present new security risks, particularly where multiple queues are created.

'Operators should NOT remove any security features or useful street furniture items without considering protective security in the round.

‘Where long or multiple queues form, consider deploying vehicle barriers along the footway to disrupt a vehicle being able to drive down its length.'