The military has been drafted in to help protect Kent from an increased threat of terrorism.

Ministry of Defence police officers will join armed teams from Kent Police on the county's streets from today.

It comes after the national threat level was raised to "critical" following the terror attack in Manchester on Monday which left 22 dead.

A Kent Police spokesman said: "Kent Police is liaising with the Home Office to regularly assess the national threat levels and what that means for our county.

"Highly-visible firearms officers are already patrolling key locations in Kent as part of our current deployment and as a result of this on-going work, additional police officer patrols have been arranged.

"From Friday 26 May, this will also include officers from the Ministry of Defence Police who will support their armed Kent colleagues."

The MoD officers will be patrolling key locations to provide additional security, and will be under Kent Police's control.

It comes after yesterday's announcement that armed police will start patrolling trains for the first time.

Members of the public are asked to remain alert, but not alarmed.

Anyone who witnesses anything suspicious is asked to report it to the Anti Terrorist Hotline 0800 789 321.