The number of armed police officers in Cumbria is not going up – despite a rise nationally.

Cumbria police says it has enough armed officers to cope if a response is needed in the wake of a terror attack.

A spokesman for Cumbria Police said: “We maintain a sufficient number of armed officers to ensure that we have a 24 hour county-wide response to any incident where an armed response is required.

“Our number of firearms officers has remained the same for the past few years, which is sufficient to respond to the current threat levels.

“If necessary, we would be supported by regional and national assets if the situation required it to keep the public safe.

"The national uplift in firearms officers as required by the Home Secretary has focused on urban areas."

Details about the county's armed response comes days after the issue of firearms and terrorism was discussed by officials at the county force's main union.

Paul Senior, secretary of Cumbria Police Federation, said there was “no reason” why Cumbria could not be next as recent terror squads had been targeting "softer" areas.

He also feared the force could lose more firearms officers to other areas.

“There is already mutual aid when we share our officers and if there was intelligence that a terrorist was working in a particular area then obviously we would assist as we already do when we are needed," he said.

Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said this week that there would be more armed officers at well-known landmarks following terrorist attacks in Europe.

He said the aim was to reassure the public and deter would-be attackers.

The Met - London's main police force - has already announced it will increase the number of armed officers by 600, bringing the total to 2,800.

The latest announcement comes after 84 people were killed when a lorry ploughed into a large crowd watching a fireworks display in Nice in the south of France last month.

Sir Bernard said: “We have no intelligence that there will be an attack shortly but what we do know is what we have seen in western Europe.

“We have seen attacks in Germany, in Belgium, in France and we would be foolish to ignore that, so it's important that we get officers out there with firearms to respond.”