Police have warned Christians to be on alert amid fears they could be targeted by Islamic State jihadists.

Security was increased at the country’s 47,000 churches after an 84-year-old priest was beheaded by Muslim fanatics in France.

The killing in Normandy was the first known attack claimed by IS inside a church in the West after compiling a hit list of places of Christian worship.

Hertfordshire community safety Supt Dean Patient said the county's officers had not received any specific intelligence of planned attacks in the county.

He said: “We continue to urge all of our communities to be alert but not alarmed and report any suspicious activity.

“Nationally the police service continues to work with faith organisations, as well as other sectors, to help ensure the safety and security of their staff, visitors and members.”

Adel Kermiche, 19, has been named as one of the two ISIS knifemen who stormed into a church in Normandy and cut the throat of an 84-year-old Father Jacques Hamel before being shot dead by police.

Last night counter-terror police in Britain disclosed they had ‘circulated specific advice’ to places of worship.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said: "Following recent events in France, we are reiterating our protective security advice to Christian places of worship and have circulated specific advice today. We are also taking this opportunity to remind them to review their security arrangements as a precaution.

"This is part of our ongoing work with faith organisations, as well as other sectors, to help ensure the safety and security of their staff, visitors and members."

He said: "There is no specific intelligence relating to attacks against the Christian community in the UK.

"However, as we have seen, Daesh and other terrorist groups have targeted Christian as well as Jewish and other faith groups in the West and beyond. While the threat from terrorism remains unchanged at severe we urge the public to be vigilant."

There are around 5.4million Church members in the UK.

In February last year, when a total of 17 people died in attacks by Islamist gunmen in Paris, including four men at a kosher supermarket, anti-terror police warned of ‘heightened concern’ of the risks to the Jewish community.

It prompted an increase in patrols at schools and synagogues and in areas with large populations of the UK’s 263,000 Jews.

Police are still seeking the identity of the second attacker, and are continuing to carry out raids.