By Michael Holden
LONDON, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Private firms operating Britain's vital infrastructure, from power plants to shopping centres, must not lose sight of the threat posed by terrorism because of the recession, security experts said on Tuesday.
As companies focus on the effect of the economic downturn, officials said the security threat must not be ignored.
"It is unclear how well the UK's critical infrastructure is prepared for, and protected against, terrorist attacks," said Hugo Rosemont, security spokesman, for the Society of British Aerospace Companies, a trade association representing firms supplying air transport, defence and homeland security.
"Just because the newspaper front pages and TV bulletins are dominated by the recession, regrettably this does not mean that the terror threat has disappeared," he said in a statement.
With most of Britain's key facilities in the hands of private companies, Rosemont said there needed to be debate over whether the government should legislate to ensure those sites were properly protected.
Britain has been a target for Islamist militants since it joined the United States in invading Afghanistan and Iraq after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, exemplified by the suicide bombings on London's transport network in July 2005.
Since then, prosecutors say would-be attackers, jailed for plots foiled by security services, had discussed attacking vital infrastructure such as power stations, nuclear facilities, shopping malls and gas, water and electrical supplies.
One senior counter terrorism official told Reuters firms could be tempted to ignore terrorism risks during the recession.
"A lot of businesses are struggling to survive financially so it's obviously going to be an issue," said Detective Chief Inspector Chris Phillips, head of Britain's National Counter Terrorism Security Office (NaCTSO).
Phillips said recent successes by the security services might also have given some companies a false sense of security.
There have been no deadly attacks in Britain since the 2005 bombings, and last month the head of Britain's MI5 domestic security agency said that the threat of an immediate attack had receded because of a number of successful prosecutions.
However Britain remains on its second highest threat level of "severe", a level it has never fallen below since first publishing the warning status in August 2006.
"To some extent we are victims of our own success," said Phillips, whose police unit is responsible for protecting Britain's vulnerable and hazardous sites and assets, ranging from radioactive materials to shopping centres.
"We've got to keep selling the (counter terrorism) message. But the fact is we have been ... so successful at catching people up until now that it's quite a difficult message to sell," Phillips told Reuters at a security conference in London. (Editing by Alison Williams)