A day before thousands of gays and lesbians march through London, British police have thwarted an apparent terror attack close to the parade route. Today London will celebrate Britain's largest LGBT Pride. Thousands of people are expected to march through the area near Piccadilly Circus with tens of thousands more lining the street. Early yesterday morning, police were called about a suspicious car parked in nearby Haymarket. Inside the silver Mercedes, investigators found gas containers and a large number of nails. The attack would have caused "significant injury or loss of life," police said. The area remained cordoned off throughout most of the day while an investigation took place. A British security official told The Associated Press that there were similarities between the device and vehicle bombs used by insurgents in Iraq. Later, a second suspicious car was checked along Hyde Park and was found to contain explosives. No one has claimed responsibility and police say they are not certain of the motive. But the gay Pride parade and the large number of people jammed into the area may not have been the intended target, police said. The discovery of the car bomb comes a week before the second anniversary of the 7th July London bombings, when four British Muslim suicide bombers killed themselves and 52 bus and subway passengers. The bombs exploded at the Aldgate station near the Liverpool Street railway terminal, Edgware Road and King's Cross in north London, Old Street in the financial district and Russell Square, near the British Museum. The area is home to a number of gay clubs and bars. In 1999, the Admiral Duncan gay bar was the scene of a nail bombing. Three people were killed and 73 injured in the attack. A skinhead and self proclaimed fascist who said he hated gays was later arrested and convicted in the attack. A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said there is nothing to indicate terrorists planned to attack today's gay marchers. Organisers of the pride celebration say all the events will go ahead as scheduled. Ref: 365gay.com (m)