Britain is under “serious and continuous threat” from terrorism said the newly-appointed Prime-Minister Gordon Brown during an emergency meeting of the cabinet's crisis committee after a suspected car bomb was defused in central London.

“As the police and security services have said on so many occasions, we face a serious and continuous threat to our country,” Mr. Brown said. “But this incident does recall the need for us to be vigilant at all times and the public to be alert at any potential incidents.”

“I will stress to the Cabinet that the vigilance must be maintained over the next few days,” he said.

According to media reports, the incident could be linked to the upcoming second anniversary of the suicide bombings on July 7, 2005. The suspected car bomb was discovered early Friday when the police was called to investigate a silver Mercedes car parked in front of the Tiger Tiger nightclub in Haymarket, the heart of London's Westend.

The witnesses reported that the club staff alerted the police after the car was driven into a rubbish bin and the driver ran off.

During a press conference, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, head of London's counter terrorism command, said: "At this stage it is obvious that if the device had detonated there would have been significant loss of life.”

Clarke said that the police discovered in the car significant quantities of petrol, several large gas cylinders and a large number of nails.

According to the BBC's security correspondent Frank Gardner the fact that a vehicle-born-improvised explosives device (VBIED) was to be used indicated an "al-Qaeda link."

Justice Secretary Jack Straw said the government was informed early Friday of the discovery. “Sadly, in the world we live in, these things happen,” Straw told the BBC in an interview. “The government was told much earlier,” added Straw in a comment on the news just made public. It was revealed later that “enhanced security measures” had been put in place at the Houses of Parliament in Westminster.