A vast majority of Londoners believe it likely that there will be a terrorist attack on the Capital, according to a poll published on Tuesday.

Of those surveyed by MORI for the Greater London Authority, 84 per cent believed an attack by a terrorist organisation was either fairly likely, likely or very likely.

In stark contrast, just four per cent considered such an attack to be very unlikely.

The survey also found that the majority of council taxpayers would be willing to pay more to fund extra police in the fight against al Qaeda and other organisations. 

Nearly two thirds of those questioned thought publicity campaigns across London to increase public vigilance would be very or quite effective, while 59 per cent believed that work by the Metropolitan Police with communities such as the Muslim community would also be effective in deterring attacks.

However, only 14 per cent wanted to see policing of the centre of London to be given higher priority, compared to a quarter wanting the police to focus on reducing crime in local areas.  Nearly six in 10 wanted both to be given equal priority.

London's mayor Ken Livingstone, whose personal rating has soared by 10 points over the past year to 26, welcomed the additional finding that 45 per cent of voters had noticed a rise in police numbers.

"Clearly Londoners are starting to see the benefit of the extra investment my budgets have provided in London's police service over the last four years, with nearly half of Londoners saying they have seen more uniformed officers on the streets," he said.

"As the new Safer Neighbourhoods scheme is rolled out to neighbourhoods across London, people will start to see more police in their local community, tackling crime and fear of crime at a local level."