Cranking up the holiday booga-booga - Dimona made

Britain faces the serious threat of a "dirty bomb" terror attack, the Home Secretary has warned.

The news comes as police in Slovakia question three people caught trying to sell enriched uranium for possible use in a radiological device.

In an exclusive interview for Sky News on her department's efforts to counter the terrorist threat, Jacqui Smith said intelligence analysts believed the number of plots was likely to grow in the months ahead.

"The regular threat assessments I receive make sobering reading," she said.

"What we have seen of course, is that over the last year or so the threat has been growing."

Sha added that Eliza Manningham-Buller, the former head of MI5, had estimated there were 1,600 to 2,000 individuals involved in terrorist plots in the UK.

"I think that the analysis that says this is a threat, a serious level of threat that will be with us over a period of time, is right," Ms Smith added.

"If we look at the trends, it is something that is growing at the moment." More...