Businesses took an increasingly relaxed attitude towards the threat of terrorism in the immediate run-up to the London bombings in July, according to a survey of leading companies.

The survey, carried out in June but released only today, found just 57 per cent of respondents felt the threat from terrorism would in-crease over the next 12 to 24 months. This was down from the 83 per cent that expected the threat to rise the year before.