A NUMBER of Britons are feared dead following the terror atrocities which have left 129 people dead and 350 wounded in Paris, David Cameron has said.

The Prime Minister condemned the "brutal and callous murderers" behind the series of attacks in the French capital.

"We must be prepared for a number of British casualties," he warned.

Speaking in Downing Street he said the terror threat level in the UK would remain at "severe", but the attack would prompt a review of plans and suggested the threat posed by Islamic State was "evolving".

In a message of solidarity to the people of France he said: "Your values are our values, your pain is our pain, your fight is our fight."

The Prime Minister said: "The events in Paris are the worst acts of violence in France since the Second World War, the worst terrorist attack in Europe for a decade, a horrifying and sickening attack.

"Our hearts go out to the French people and to all those who lost loved ones.

"Today the British and French peoples stand together as we have so often before in our history when confronted by evil."

Mr Cameron said the full picture of the attacks was still emerging but "we must be prepared for a number of British casualties and we are doing all we can to help those caught up in the attack".

He added: "These were innocent victims enjoying a Friday night out with friends and family, no doubt at the end of a hard week. They were not seeking to harm anyone, they were simply going about their way of life - our way of life.

"They were killed and injured by brutal and callous murderers who want to destroy everything our two countries stand for: peace, tolerance, liberty. But we will not let them.

"We will redouble our efforts to wipe out this poisonous, extremist ideology."

Speaking later, a Downing Street spokeswoman said: "The Foreign and Commonwealth Office have handled around 400 calls overnight.

"While we have now confirmed the safety of many British citizens, we are concerned that a small number of British nationals have been caught up in the attack.

"Our Embassy in Paris are working urgently with the French authorities to find out more and we have deployed additional consular staff and a team from the Metropolitan Police to assist them with this task."

Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for the attacks which killed at least 129 people and wounded 350 more, around 80 of them critically.

A manhunt is under way for possible accomplices of gunmen who targeted a concert hall and the French national football stadium, and sprayed the terraces of bars and restaurants with gunfire in at least six almost simultaneous attacks.

Above: Sound of explosions can be heard as match is played at Stade De France

In a message issued in French and Arabic, the group - also known as Isis, Isil and Daesh - said it had targeted "the capital of abominations and perversions and those who carry the crusader banner in Europe".

In an apparent reference to France's participation in airstrikes against IS strongholds in Syria, the statement warned the country and others taking similar action would "remain the principal targets of Islamic State... for having struck Muslims in the territory of the caliphate with their aircraft".

French president Francois Hollande denounced the attacks as an "act of war" and vowed that France would be "merciless" in its response to the "absolute barbarity".

Speaking after an emergency meeting of senior government and security officials at the Elysee Palace, Mr Hollande declared three days of national mourning.

The Queen sent her condolences to the French people in a message to the president, telling Mr Hollande that she and the Duke of Edinburgh were "deeply shocked and saddened by the terrible loss of life".

In a televised address to the nation, Mr Hollande said the attacks were "committed by a terrorist army, the Islamic State group, a jihadist army, against France, against the values that we defend everywhere in the world, against what we are: a free country that means something to the whole planet".

He said the attacks were "prepared, organised and planned from abroad, with complicity from within the country".

The Northern Echo:

Fans pitchside at the Stade de France after news of explosion's in Paris broke. 

The French army and security forces were mobilised "at the highest possible level" and France would "act by all means anywhere, inside or outside the country" against the terrorists responsible, he said.

French police officials said a Syrian passport was found on the body of one of the suicide bombers who targeted the Stade de France in northern Paris.

Reports suggested that German authorities were linking a man arrested a week ago with firearms in his car near the border with Austria to the Paris atrocities.

The Northern Echo:

Speaking after chairing a meeting of the Government's Cobra emergency committee to review the security situation, Mr Cameron said: "The threat level is already severe, which means an attack is highly likely, and will remain so.

"Our police and intelligence agencies work round the clock to do all they can to keep us safe."

Mr Cameron said preparations had been in place for a multiple attack ever since the onslaught by extremists in Mumbai, but the events in Paris will be reviewed to see if anything needed to change.

"In the light of last night's attacks, we will of course review our plans and make sure we learn any appropriate lessons," he said.

"It is clear that the threat from Isil is evolving. Last night's attacks suggest a new degree of planning and coordination and a greater ambition for mass casualty attacks.

"We must recognise that however strong we are, however much we prepare, we in the UK face the same threat.

"That's why we continue to encourage the public to remain vigilant."

Mr Cameron, who has spoken to President Hollande today, added: "The terrorists' aim is clear: it is to divide us and to destroy our way of life.

"So more than ever we should come together and stand united and carry on with the way of life that we love and that we know and that we will never be moved off."

The Prime Minister said his message to the French was that the UK will do "whatever we can to help", adding: "Your values are our values, your pain is our pain, your fight is our fight and together we will defeat these terrorists."

In a night of carnage in the French capital:

  • Police stormed the Bataclan concert hall where rock fans were being held hostage, but attackers wearing suicide belts blew themselves up, leaving 80 people feared dead. A witness said one of the gunmen shouted "Allahu Akbar" and said "This is for Syria".
  • Two suicide attacks and a bombing took place at the Stade de France stadium, where Mr Hollande was among thousands of football fans watching the national side play a friendly against Germany.
  • Gunmen targeted bars and restaurants in the 10th and 11th arrondissements of central Paris.
  • As many as 18 people died when the terrace of La Belle Equipe was sprayed with gunfire, while around 14 people were killed at Le Carillon bar-cafe. There were also shootings at the nearby Cambodian restaurant Le Petit Cambodge and the La Casa Nostra pizzeria.

The IS statement said that "eight brothers wearing explosive belts and carrying assault rifles" had struck targets "meticulously selected in advance in the heart of the French capital", including a football match between "crusader nations" and a "festival of perversity" at the Bataclan.

And the group warned that the attacks were "only the start of the storm".

A state of emergency was declared in France, with controls reimposed on the country's borders, police leave cancelled and 1,500 extra soldiers mobilised to guard official buildings and religious sites.

Public facilities including schools have been closed. All public demonstrations are banned in the Paris region until Thursday.

Mr Hollande, who has cancelled a planned visit to Turkey for the G20 summit this weekend, is to address both houses of the French parliament at Versailles on Monday, when there will be a minute's silence for victims.

Messages of sympathy and support were issued by world leaders, while ordinary people around the globe turned to social media to express their shock.

In Durham, the city's cathedral was lit with the colours of the French flag during the Lumiere light festival to show solidarity with Parisiens.

The Northern Echo:

 

In Richmond, North Yorkshire, the Tricolour was flying from shops in the Market Place.

The Northern Echo:

The Tricolour outside a butchers' shop in Richmond market place. Picture: Chris Booth

The Prince of Wales condemned the Paris terrorist atrocities as "bestial attacks" and said he wanted to express his "utter, total horror" at what has happened.

US president Barack Obama said the violence in the French capital was "an attack on all of humanity", while the Vatican condemned it "in the most radical way".

The foreign ministry of Iran - whose president Hassan Rouhani cancelled a trip to France - said the Paris killers "are not loyal to any type of divine religions - including Islam".

Syrian president Bashar Assad said Paris's "mistaken" foreign policy had contributed to the "spread of terrorism".

Mr Assad told a delegation of French MPs in Damascus: "The terrorist attacks that targeted the French capital Paris cannot be separated from what happened in the Lebanese capital Beirut lately and from what has been happening in Syria for the past five years and in other areas,"

The Foreign Office said it was in "close touch" with French authorities and was "urgently investigating" whether there were any UK victims.

British police were liaising with their counterparts in Paris on possible lessons for security in the UK.

Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, the national police lead for counter-terrorism, said there would be a strengthened police presence at ports and major events and on the streets in Britain, and called for "vigilance" from the general public.

US officials said all members of the American rock band Eagles of Death Metal, who were playing a concert at the Bataclan, escaped unhurt.

Scenes of "carnage" were described by witnesses in the concert hall, who said there was "blood everywhere".

The brother of the band's drummer, Julian Dorio, told US newspaper the Atlanta Journal Constitution that the musicians hit the floor after seeing gunmen, then fled by a backstage door.

After speaking to his brother by phone, Michael Dorio said: "They saw a man with a machine gun just opening fire."

Television cameraman Charles Pitt said he was outside a cafe in the city's 11th arrondissement where people were shot at around 9.10pm local time.

He told BBC News: "I had literally gone about 30 metres (100ft) when, I thought it was a firecracker to start with, and then it went on and it got louder.

"It went on for a minute. Everybody dived for cover, thinking it was gunfire. Then there was a pause for about 15 seconds and then it all started up again.

"Then it calmed down a bit and I walked back to the front of the cafe and there was a whole pile of bodies, probably about seven on the left-hand side and four that had been sitting on the tables outside on the right-hand side, and a lot of injured.

"I saw a woman who had obviously been shot in the leg."

The Foreign Office advised Britons to "exercise caution in public places" following the attacks, and people with concerns about British friends or relatives in Paris can call 020 7008 1500 for assistance.

French authorities have advised people in Paris to remain in their homes.

Disneyland Paris was closed for the day and all sporting events in the French capital have been postponed, including a rugby union Champions Cup tie involving Scotland's Glasgow Warriors.

Channel Tunnel train operator Eurostar said services would run to Paris, but passengers due to travel on Saturday were being offered a free ticket exchange.

The attacks come after the Charlie Hebdo atrocity in January, which saw 12 people killed after gunmen stormed the Paris offices of the satirical magazine.

They also came a day after Islamic State militant Mohammed Emwazi, known as Jihadi John, was targeted in a US air strike in Syria. It is not clear if there is any link.

HOW TWITTER HAS BEEN REACTING TO THE TRAGEDY:

Sir Gary Verity ‏@GaryVerity  

"We stand tonight in solidarity with all our friends in #Paris & #France #ViveLaFrance"

Simon Mignolet ‏@SMignolet 

"Great win tonight but with what happened in Paris everything is relative.My thoughts go out to all victims and their families! #PrayforParis"

Gary Brown ‏@garybrown06 

"This needs to stop like NOW !!!! Heartbreaking scenes #rip #ParisAttacks"

Hayley McQueen ‏@HayleyMcQueen 

"Twitter at its best with Parisiens using hashtag #PorteOuverte offering help if out on the streets & need somewhere to stay safe."

Jaws Gary Tiplady ‏@wiresculpturer J

"So sad poor innocent people just enjoying life and evil strike"

David Harrington ‏@cllrharrington  

"Dreadful news coming out of #Paris this evening. My thoughts are with everyone. Horrifying news."

Mike Pannett, author ‏@MikePannett  

"Thoughts with everyone in #France tonight. God bless you all."

Kevin Maguire ‏@Kevin_Maguire  

"Reading and watching the speculation and frequently surprised but will be shocked if the killers in Paris aren't Islamist jihadis"

Stephen Miller ‏@hailfabio  

"I find it inconceivable that human beings can be so cruel - #RespectLife" 

Jason Plato ‏@jasonplato 

"For ***** sake, why can't human beings of our earth just live peacefully side by side. It's like a playground but the kids have weapons"

  • Were you or anyone you know in Paris on Friday night? Email newsdesk@nne.co.uk or call 01325-505065.