THREE major terror attacks on London have been foiled since the July 7 bombings, a Met police chief has said.

Each time officers considered using the shoot-to-kill policy, but decided against it, the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) was told on Thursday.

Operation Kratos, the codename of the instructions to shoot suspected suicide bombers in the head, led to the death of innocent Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell Tube station on July 22.

'Not appropriate'

"MPA members will be well aware that the Met police have interdicted three terrorist attacks in the capital since last summer," Assistant Commissioner Steve House said.

"In each of the operations the Gold Command considered whether Operation Kratos tactics would be deployed.

"It was decided they were not appropriate to the particular style of operation that was being run."

Police chiefs gave a report on the Kratos policy to the MPA, the body that oversees the Met.

The document confirms that the shoot-to-kill policy is still in place: "The present advice is that there is no known alternative to firearms that will produce immediate incapacitation." However, the Met is "reviewing less lethal options".

'Suicide bomb' alerts plummet

According to the report, calls from people who thought they spotted a suicide bomber in London have plummeted since straight after the July attacks.

During the first two weeks Scotland fielded 763 calls. The suicide bomb response team was sent out 12 times and safely resolved all but one of the incidents - the De Menezes case.

In August the number of alerts dropped to 292, the report says. Then it continued to fall: 56 in September, 47 in October and 32 in November. Since December there have been less than 20 calls a month.

Alerts tend to be low overnight, rising over the morning rush hour to peak at noon.

Just one 'Islamic' suspect

In the past month the Met started monitoring the ethnicity of suicide bomb suspects, as described by the callers. Out of 21 calls just one suspect was described as "Islamic" and two as "Arab".

Seven seemed to be "Asian", four "dark European", three "white European" and two "African Caribbean".

Police will receive further training not to stereotype potential suicide bombers, the document adds. "It is acknowledged that, while there is no profile of a suicide bomber, certain groups feel vulnerable to stereotyping by the public and the police."