Messages that followed from family and friends shared my instincts: “Get home and stay there”, “Don't ever go out again please?”, “Can't you work from home?” and this from a fellow northerner living here: “It makes me scared to go to busy places”. People on Facebook pondered cancelling upcoming trips to the capital and others reminisced about passing through London Bridge two years ago on a work trip.

For those of us who have made London our adopted home, it's tempting to pull away from the buzz and bustle that drew us here following an act of such inexplicable violence. Weighing up a salary cut and scanning Rightmove for future homes in the sleepy towns or villages we were brought up in seems sensible, doesn't it? We could stay indoors, working from home, until we can escape the spectre of unknown crowds and fun in zone 1 and the last person to leave London can turn off the lights.

Then, a few years down the line will come the fear of stepping into the nearest big town or city. Then the local shops will be a hurdle. They'll belong to yobs and thieves and it'll be too risky to set foot there and we'll all do our shopping online and watch news reports, glad we're not outside.

“Why we shouldn't be afraid to go out after the terror attacks”