'Third travel less' after attacks

Most people talk to friends about their bomb experiences

A third of Londoners plan to use Tubes, buses and trains less and cut down visits to the city centre following the July bomb attacks, a study has found.

Researchers from the Health Protection Agency (HPA) and two universities also found that almost a third of people in London had suffered serious stress.

Problems using mobile phones on 7 July increased stress, researchers said.

But the report concluded that the majority of Londoners were coping well emotionally in the wake of the attacks.

The researchers said: "Those who experienced difficulty contacting others on their mobile were also significantly more likely to experience substantial stress.

Most people are able to turn to lay support networks after traumatic events Study

"Although there is no doubt that priority should be given to emergency service use of the mobile network in the event of a major incident, these results imply that allowing ordinary people to communicate with each other is also an important function."

Muslims were more stressed with 62% of those questioned in the survey of 1,000 people reporting high levels.

The survey, published in the online version of the British Medical Journal, also found that those who had experience of terrorism - such as the IRA attacks on London - suffered less stress in the wake of the bomb attacks.

Some 4% of those surveyed said they knew one of the 52 people killed or the 700 injured, in the attacks.

The study found that 1% of people had sought professional help for negative emotions while 71% said they spoke to family and friends.

"Our results therefore confirm those of previous studies that show that most people are able to turn to lay support networks after traumatic events," the researchers said.