Armed officers will race across London on motorbikes if the capital is attacked by terrorists, police have revealed.

The new tactic was announced as more armed officers are deployed across London from today, including at major landmarks, in the wake of the deadly terror attacks in Europe.

Officers have had training so they will be able to use the versatile vehicles to mount kerbs and go off road with the aim of slashing the time it takes to reach the scene of an attack.

One of the elite counter-terrorism unit's officers told Sky News: "Traffic can be gridlocked at the best of times - certainly in the times of an attack.

Image: Elite counter-terrorism officers patrol on the River Thames

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"If you look at Europe, at Paris and Belgium, traffic becomes a major impingement on a rapid response.

"We've looked at tactics and pillion riding with motorcycles gives us a very fast and effective response. The guys practise riding off road so they can bump up and down across pavements and make really good progress from A to B."

Image: A police security check in central London

Revealing plans for the heightened visible presence on the streets of the capital, Met Police chief Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said it would be "foolish to ignore" the recent atrocities on the continent.

The 600 extra specialist officers will be there to "confront terrorists" and are "prepared to deal with the worst situations", he insisted.

But the main police union has warned that it could be two years before 1,500 extra firearms officers due to be trained by police forces throughout England and Wales are operational.

Police Federation of England and Wales chairman Steve White said the "best case scenario" would be 24 months to get the additional marksmen in place.

With the terror threat level in the UK ranked as severe, Sir Bernard stressed the need for vigilance, with an attack "highly likely".

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He was speaking after warning that a terror attack in Britain was a case of "when, not if".

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The extra armed police on patrol form the first wave of a move to increase the number of firearms officers in London to 2,800 in total.

The operation is not based on a specific threat, but aimed at making London "as hostile an environment as possible" for any would-be attackers.

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Sir Bernard said: "We've seen attacks in Germany, we've seen attacks in France and Belgium and I think we'd be foolish to ignore that.

"So it's important we get officers out there with firearms to respond where necessary but they are the same officers they were before, they're part of British policing.

"I want them to be friendly; I want them to approach the public and to be approachable to the public.

"I want the public to be able to go up and talk to these officers and that's part of their briefing.

"They've not changed but they are ready for the sorts of things we've seen throughout the rest of Europe."

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Mr White said some police forces are struggling to get the right quality of volunteers to go through the rigorous counter-terrorism selection and training process.

He added: "If there is an attack it is unlikely to be an isolated incident. We've got to have the resources around the country because it might happen in multiple places at the same time."

Home Office figures for the year to March 2016 showed that the number of armed officers dropped by eight, but police chiefs have insisted that forces are on track to get the extra marksmen in place over the next 18 months.

Mr White also expressed concerns about cuts to neighbourhood policing, which Sir Bernard has described as "our major weapon" against terrorism.