Rishi Sunak was escorted through central London by a motorcade featuring dozens of jogging police officers - with social media users slamming the procession as “over the top”.
A fleet of cars containing the Prime Minister was escorted along Whitehall towards Parliament, by a motorcade featuring officers clad in Met Police uniform and running in formation.
A video shared on Twitter shows a police officer on a bike leading the convoy, shouting “out the way please” and dispersing members of the public from the road.
The frontrunner is followed by dozens more uniformed officers on push bikes, then a number jogging along the road.
Four uniform blue Range Rovers and a people carrier then pass through, surrounded by officers on motorbikes.
A bystander asks “who’s there?” to which a police officer responds “the Prime Minister”.
A police car brings up the rear, with more police officers running at pace behind.
Social media users were baffled by the large escort, describing it as “a tremendous waste of police manpower”.
Others compared it to the moment 12 bodyguards dressed in suits ran in formation alongside leader Kim Jong-Un’s car as he left a meeting with South Korean leader Moon Jae-in, in 2018.
One Twitter user wrote: “Not necessary at all. I can’t understand how this is a good use of the few police officers we have.”
User Katherine Russell added: “Seems quite over the top.”
The original source of the video posted on Twitter is not clear, and it is not known when the footage was taken.
Asked if the protective arrangements for Mr Sunak’s convoy was linked to protests by Extinction Rebellion held over the weekend, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “As you know on security issues, anything to do with policing is very much one for the Met Police.”
Having officers on foot and bikes may have allowed them to intervene more quickly to any protest, and possibly with less risk, than if they were in patrol cars or on motorbikes.
When approached by the Standard, the Met Police said it would not comment on matters of private security.
