Armed police will now routinely patrol Canterbury Cathedral as part of an anti-terror drive in Kent.

Kent police said yesterday that a number of locations would see an increase in armed patrols, including the Bluewater shopping centre and the port at Dover.

"As of today we will deploying armed officers at a number of iconic site across the county," Kent deputy chief constable Paul Brandon told KentOnline.

"We're doing the initial patrolling today [Monday] from within the resources we have, supplemented with overtime, but are actually in the process of recruiting a number of new firearms officers to be deployed to other parts of the county."

The Home Office previously announced that police forces across England and Wales should increase the number of armed policemen on patrols.

Brandon said police were "not expecting a direct threat to the country" but wanted "to make sure that should circumstances change quickly, we are adequately prepared".

The move has seen some criticism, with commentators warning that a large increase in the number of gun-carrying police officers could cause public alarm.

"I would rather Kent Police had a more low-key approach," Frank Furedi, professor of sociology at the University of Kent, told the BBC.

"The real deterrent is always behind-the-scenes, intelligence-led policing."

The current threat level for international terrorism in the UK is "severe", meaning an attack is considered highly likely.

Nearby France has seen a number of high-profile terror attacks in the past few months, including the Paris attacks which killed 130 people in November, and the deaths of more than 80 people in Nice in July.

French priest Father Jacques Hamel was murdered by Islamists in his church in Rouen as he celebrated mass on July 26.

In the wake of these attacks, churches in the UK have been urged to take security measures against a possible incident on home soil.

Guidelines issued to churches by National Churchwatch warn of an "escalating problem" and say clergy should take steps to protect themselves and their congregations against terrorists armed with guns or knives.

Every church has been advised to install CCTV and use a single public entrance that can be shut securely in the event of an attack.