Britain said on Tuesday it had closed its embassy in the Peruvian capital of Lima for unspecified security reasons and will keep it closed on December 30 and 31st.

"The embassy has been closed for security reasons. The closure is a temporary measure," a spokesman from Britain's Foreign Office said.

He said the concerns which prompted the closure related only to the embassy and that a security review will take place on January 2. The embassy was scheduled to be closed on January 1.

An embassy spokeswoman in Lima said the embassy had received a "potential end of year terrorism threat." She said about 50 people work in the embassy which does not usually receive threats.

Lima police said they were aware of the alert but had no details. A Reuters correspondent said the city appeared quiet.

The British Foreign Office Web site said Britons in Peru who require assistance should contact the embassy duty officer. Travel advice to Britons visiting the country remains unchanged.

The Web site said remnants of the Shining Path guerrilla movement were still active in Peru and that the group was believed to have been responsible for a car bomb close to the U.S. Embassy in Lima in 2002 and the abduction of gas pipeline workers in 2003.

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