A soldier was hacked to death on a street in London yesterday in an Islamist terrorist attack.

Two men carrying knives, meat cleavers and a firearm rammed their victim with a car as he left the Royal Artillery barracks in Woolwich then began stabbing him as he lay on the ground.

A number of witnesses said that the victim, who was wearing a Help For Heroes T-shirt, was decapitated. The assailants then waited for about 20 minutes until armed police arrived at the scene of the incident on John Wilson Street.

It is understood that they refused to drop their weapons and that at least one of them rushed at police officers before both were shot.

One of the suspects was flown to hospital, where