TERRORIST threats against potential targets in Kent are under constant review but no attack is imminent.

That was the word from Kent Police headquarters in Maidstone as Assistant Chief Constable David Kelly moved to play down a magazine report which suggested an attack on the UK was inevitable.

Mr Kelly is the Association of Chief Police Officer's spokesman on chemical, biological or nuclear response.

In an interview with The Police Review magazine he is quoted as saying: "Prevention is always best, but it would be naive of us to believe we could always prevent it.

"They are going to get through, and when they do get through we have got to be able to put in a credible response."

Mr Kelly was not available to speak today but police spokesman Mark Pugash insisted his comments had been misinterpreted.

He said: "The police service has been planning since the attacks on the Tokyo underground in 1995 to improve our ability to deal with these kinds of attacks.

"In 99.9 per cent of cases they do not occur but people expect us to have mechanisms in place in case anything occurred. Our job is to protect public safety. We will always err on the side of caution."

Security arrangements at potential Kent targets including the Dungeness nuclear power-station and the Channel Tunnel were reviewed regularly.

Mr Pugash would not go into details on changes made in light of the increased terrorist threat from Islamic fundamentalist groups.

He said: "We have regular exercises and contingencies in place, which are assessed and updated as required. That is nothing new. It has been the case for the past decade."