Car hits group near Parliament

COUNTER terrorism police swarmed on Westminster early yesterday, after a car hit a group of pedestrians and ploughed at speed into a bollard outside the British Houses of Parliament.

Last night, Metropolitan Police Service confirmed it was being treated as a terrorist incident and that the man, aged in his late 20s, was “arrested on suspicion of terrorist offences”.

“At this stage, we are treating this as a terrorist incident and the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command is now leading the investigation,” they said in a statement. “There was nobody else in the vehicle, which remains at the scene and is being searched. No weapons have been recovered at this stage.”

The driver of the small sil- ver hatchback remained inside the car while uniformed police initially warned people to move away. Heavily armed officers surrounded the vehicle, aiming rifles at the man inside. He appeared calm as he was arrested and led away from the vehicle in handcuffs.

The scene was cordoned off, with the cordon widening as more police, including counter terrorism officers, arrived at the scene. Explosives search dogs were brought in and were seen sniffing around the car.

“A number of pedestrians have been injured. At this stage, officers do not believe that anybody is in a life-threatening condition,” Scotland Yard said in a statement.

An eyewitness told Sky News he believed the driver had “deliberately” driven towards the pedestrians.

Armed police shouted at onlookers to “move back as quick as you can, we’re asking you for a reason”.

The incident evoked memories of terrorist incidents in London last year, including an attack at nearby Westminster Bridge in March in which 52year-old Khalid Masood drove a car into pedestrians on the pavement on the bridge, then stabbed an unarmed police officer. Five people, including the police officer, were killed and 50 more were injured.

The Parliament is in recess but thousands of government employees work in the area.