British police called on businesses in the City of London to put in place their contingency plans for terrorist attacks, saying the attacks there is only "a matter of time," the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.

James Hart, commissioner of the City of London Police, told the newspapers there had been "hostile reconnaissance" of the City on several occasions since the 2001 Sept. 11 attacks on America.

"Every successful terrorist group pre-surveys its target. There's no doubt we've been subject to that surveillance and that sort of thing has been successfully disrupted," he said.

Places staked out included iconic sites, businesses and prominent buildings, "anywhere where the maximum damage can be inflicted on the financial systems of the City of London and (where you can ) associate that with mass murder and maximum disruption," Hart said.

The commissioner blamed chief executives and boards for inadequate contingency planning. Although the London attacks on July 7 had prompted businesses to look again at contingency planning, he said, adding that only 50 percent of businesses had plans in place.

He pointed out that the City of London had been the subject of terrorist attacks for three decades.

"Look at the number of times we were hit by the IRA (Irish Republican Army). I think another attack is a question of when rather than if," Hart said, adding that the mind-set of would-be terrorists was the financial centers of western governments presented prime targets.

Source: Xinhua