The City of London was put on lockdown as police carried out a controlled explosion following a security alert at the Gherkin.

City workers were told to stay indoors due to reports of a suspicious vehicle in the finance hub.

The driver of the car was arrested over possession of false documents, police said.

Images taken from inside neighbouring office blocks showed a police robot next to a silver car.

Staff were pictured huddled in the stairwells inside the iconic skyscraper as bomb disposal units probed the car.

One member of staff told the Standard: "We were told to stay inside because of a suspicious vehicle.

"There was a loud bang as the bomb robot blew up the car. Police used a sniffer dog before they told us it was safe."

One woman, who works in the Gherkin but asked not to be named, added: “We were asked to evacuate due to a suspicious vehicle being parked outside the building. We all moved into the stairwells.

“Everyone is just chatting. It’s all pretty calm and no-one is panicking."

Footage showed armed police on the scene and described the usually busy area as "eerily quiet".

A spokesman for City of London Police said: “City of London Police were called to St Mary Axe following a report of a suspicious vehicle parked on the street.

“The incident was reported to us at 11.32am on Tuesday."

The vehicle was deemed non-suspicious and roads were reopened just before 1pm, police added.