The National Barrier Asset is a modular fence system established in 2004 by the British government to provide UK police forces with a capability to deploy temporary specialist protective security barriers to protect high profile locations or temporary events, such as political party conferences, from vehicle borne suicide attacks.[1]
The fence is about high. It is designed to meet the British government's PAS 68 specifications and therefore is able to withstand an impact from a 7.5-tonne vehicle travelling at . It is managed and stored in an undisclosed location on behalf of the Home Office by Sussex Police, and is capable of being deployed in central London within three to four hours.[1]
In 2008 the size of the National Barrier Asset was tripled to meet expected demands.[2] It came to prominence for the 2014 NATO Summit, when it was erected around the Celtic Manor in Newport and in parts of Cardiff.[3] [4] [5] In June 2015 it was announced that around 2 miles (4 kilometres) of the asset would be sent to Calais to help prevent illegal immigration to the United Kingdom.[1] [6] In 2017, Police Scotland deployed the asset in Edinburgh ahead of the Fringe festival.[7] The assets have also been deployed regularly in various UK cities as a protective measure at European style Christmas markets, and was deployed in Liverpool to protect publicly accessible locations during the city's hosting of the Eurovision Song Contest[8]