TERRORIST FILE FOUND IN BRITISH DITCH

Wed Jul 5, 7:53 PM ET

LONDON (AFP) - A sensitive 46-page defence ministry file with details of how the British armed forces would respond to a terrorist incident has been found in a roadside ditch, the Sun newspaper said.

The document -- labelled "Directorate Counter-terrorism and United Kingdom Operations Duty Officer File, Restricted -- was discovered by one of the tabloid's readers in an abandoned gym bag along a busy road.

It was apparently stolen from an army major's car outside a supermarket in one of the rural Home Counties which lie outside London, the newspaper said, adding that it had returned it "to shocked defence chiefs".

The dossier was said to reveal how the elite SAS commando unit and bomb disposal experts would be deployed in the event of a terrorist attack, and how many helicopters are available to be scrambled.

It includes phone numbers for Britain's most important military figures, and details of how cabinet ministers, the military, and intelligence services would convene in the aftermath of an attack.

Reacting to the report, the Ministry of Defence said: "National security was not at risk, and in light of this incident we have reviewed our procedures accordingly."

On Friday Britain marks the first anniversary of its worst-ever terrorist incident, in which four suicide bombers killed 52 people and injured hundreds on three London subway trains and a double-decker bus.