THERE were dramatic scenes in Warwick yesterday as police marksmen acted out the chaos of a terror attack that bore chilling similarities to the deadly rampage on Houses of Parliament in London this week.

The drill is part of month-long training to coach 100 officers in the region in efficient reaction to extremist attacks.

Warwick police education training officer Andrew Grafton stressed the exercise was not based on any immediate threat to the Southern Downs or intelligence about an attack, and the training scenario was actually written months ago.

He said a heightened national security threat level and police response to critical emergencies were the driving forces behind the state-wide, counter- terror training program.

"The exercise is to equip police in a changing world on how to react to armed offenders with intent to kill and who may have a hostage or hostages,” Sgt Grafton said.

"Police are very mobile in their roles and the areas they cover, so a large public event such as the Commonwealth Games next year may require police from this region to attend and have this type of training,” he said.

Collegians Junior Rugby League Club was alive with the sound of gunfire as police stormed the building, bringing down terrorists.

To prepare for an attack on civilians, officers were faced with dummies of bloodied civilian casualties littered throughout the block and gun-wielding attackers.

Active armed offenders use various deadly weapons, including vehicles to mow people down, knives, machetes and bombs, so the officers were presented with many catastrophic scenarios.

Police also played the role of the shooters and varied their positions to keep arriving officers unsure of where the threat would come from.

Building clearance, entry to rooms, gaining access to victims, disarming attackers and correct use of police weapons was included in the rigorous training.

"When active armed offenders are aware of police presence, there is a higher likelihood of victims being at risk and self harm by the attacker,” Sgt Grafton said.

"So police are presented with real-life situations where there is a lot of stimulus and simulated gunfire from replica weapons.”

Sgt Grafton said the football club was chosen because it offered a wide range of scenarios for police such as corridors, manholes and doors that didn't fully open out.

"It's also away from the city area and public view so as not to alarm residents,” Sgt Grafton said.

"We were offered a few different options, including disused schools.”

The exercise continues this month.

The state's 11,000-plus police officers have been receiving active armed offender training since last year

It was first introduced overseas widely after the police response to the Columbine High School massacre in the US in 1999 was criticised as being too slow.

Queensland Police said the current National Terrorism Threat Level for Australia remains at "probable”.

There have been several terror attacks in Australian in the past three years.

As well as the Sydney Lindt Cafe siege in December 2014 where three people died, police employee Curtis Cheng was shot dead while leaving work in Sydney in 2015, while police shot a man dead in 2014 when he stabbed two officers in Melbourne.

If anyone has any knowledge of suspicious activity or sees anything of concern they can contact 000 in an emergency, Policelink on 131 444 for non-urgent matters or the National Security Hotline on 1800 123 400 for national security issues.