An extra 1,500 police will be on duty in London this weekend in an attempt to reassure the public and to protect Muslims who may be vulnerable to racist attacks.

Scotland Yard, which is liaising with MI5, the security service, and MI6, the secret intelligence service, through its anti-terrorist branch, said on Friday there was no intelligence that the UK was in imminent danger of terrorist attacks.

However, security officials expect the risk of London becoming a potential target of supporters of Osama bin Laden to intensify once the US-led retaliatory military action gets under way, because of the strong support given to President George W. Bush by Tony Blair, the prime minister.

Police will be focusing this weekend on protecting Muslims as they mark their traditional holy days. Saturday's highly visible police presence is part of a government-driven strategy to defuse community tension in the aftermath of terrorist attacks in the US.

The West Midlands police has stepped up street patrols in an effort to forestall possible attacks on the Muslim community.

On Friday, ministers met leaders of the Muslim community in a show of solidarity against extremism. David Blunkett, home secretary, said both sides were united in their condemnation of terrorism and in their defence of democracy against extremist attitudes.