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According to reports, one man was plotting to blow up the security gates at Downing Street with an explosive hidden in a bag. The man then allegedly planned to storm Number 10 armed with a knife and suicide vest to kill Theresa May. A man, 20, has been charged with preparing acts of terrorism and is understood to have been arrested by Met Police last week. A 21-year-old man is accused of assisting him.

GETTY Police have foiled an alleged plot to blow up Number 10 and kill Theresa May

GETTY The nation’s terror level has been raised to 'critical' several times this year

Security around the Prime Minister’s home is high with police and security gates surrounding Number 10. Both men are said to have been arrested on November 28. They will appear in custody at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday. The UK has been on high alert following several ISIS terror attacks on British soil this year.

London Terror Attack: Politicians react Thu, March 23, 2017 Politicians from around the world have responded to the London terror attack which led to the death of 4 people and more than 40 injured Play slideshow GETTY/REUTERS/TWITTER 1 of 12 At least four people have been killed including a policeman

In March, Khalid Masood, born Adrian Elms in Kent, drove a car into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge, before crashing the vehicle into the gates of Westminster. Five people were killed and 49 others injured in the attack before Masood was shot by police. Then in June, less than two weeks after Manchester Arena was targeted, eight people were killed after a van drove through crowds on London Bridge and three terrorists launched a knife attack in Borough Market. In September an improvised explosive exploded on a London tube train leaving 30 people injured.

GETTY Security around the Prime Minister’s home is high with police and security gates surrounding No. 10

Following March’s terror attack on Westminster, Theresa May said: “Yesterday an act of terrorism tried to silence our democracy. “But today we meet as normal – as generations have done before us, and as future generations will continue to do – to deliver a simple message: we are not afraid. And our resolve will never waver in the face of terrorism.” The nation’s terror level has been raised to “critical” – meaning an attack is expected imminently – several times this year. It currently remains at “severe”, meaning an attack is highly likely.

Yesterday MI5 chief Andrew Parker revealed a total of nine terrorist attacks have been prevented in the UK in the past year. Mr Parker, at a Cabinet meeting, warned Theresa May and her senior ministers that the defeat of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria did not mean the terror threat was over, warning that social media was being used to encourage attacks in the UK and elsewhere. Following the briefing at a cabinet meeting, Mrs May told ministers that the threat from terror was at an "unprecedented" level, despite the military setbacks experienced in its Middle East strongholds by Islamic State – also known as Daesh. Home Secretary Amber Rudd added that the pace of attack planning has increased "significantly" over the past year.

How the front pages of newspapers reported the London terror attack Thu, March 23, 2017 Media across Europe, to the USA, the Middle East have paid tribute to the victims Play slideshow 1 of 20