Security expert: 'Christmas markets should have been shut'

Authorities should have done more to protect people in Berlin if they had intelligence providing clear information about a threat, a security expert has told Sky News.

Professor Anthony Glees, of Buckingham University, said if German police had the same intelligence as that possessed by the US, they should have taken firmer action.

It remains unclear whether terrorism was behind the crash, in which at least nine people died after a truck drove into a busy Christmas market in Berlin.

But the US State Department issued a warning in late November telling American citizens to exercise caution at "holiday festivals, events and outdoor markets".

The warning said: "Credible information indicates the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or Da'esh), al-Qa'ida, and their affiliates continue to plan terrorist attacks in Europe, with a focus on the upcoming holiday season and associated events.

"US citizens should also be alert to the possibility that extremist sympathisers or self-radicalised extremists may conduct attacks during this period with little or no warning."

Prof Glees said: "Forgive me for saying this on such a tragic evening, it is mealy-mouthed to tell individual citizens to be careful when they go to Christmas markets.

"It is the job of the state and agencies of the state, the intelligence of security agencies, to keep people safe.

"If there was clear intelligence that a Christmas market was going to be attacked, then all Christmas markets should have been shut until that danger was dealt with.

"You cannot tell people to watch out for a truck that might be driven by terrorists in their direction. You cannot do it that way."