A man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a car was driven at police officers outside the Ukrainian embassy in west London.

Scotland Yard said a man in his 40s had been arrested on suspicion of the attempted murder of police officers and criminal damage.

Police had opened fire on the vehicle after the driver “deliberately rammed” into the official car of Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK and then drove at officers.

A statement from the embassy said armed officers had been summoned to the scene in Holland Park at around 9.50am on Saturday, where they attempted to block the offending vehicle.

The driver still attempted to ram the ambassador’s car, which was parked outside the embassy, yards from the underground station, and then, according to the Metropolitan police, the vehicle “was driven at police officers”.

Witnesses have said at least 10 shots were fired; Scotland Yard confirmed firearms and a Taser were used. A man, in his 40s, was arrested and taken to a central London hospital as a precaution, although he was not injured.

The embassy statement said: “Despite the police actions, the attacker hit the ambassador’s car again. In response, the police were forced to open fire on the perpetrator’s vehicle. The culprit was apprehended and taken to a police station.”

The ambassador, Natalia Galibarenko, was not believed to be at the embassy at the time and the embassy said no other staff were injured.

Ch Supt Andy Walker, from the Met’s specialist firearms command, said: “As is standard procedure, an investigation is now ongoing into the discharge of a police firearm during this incident.

“While this takes place, I would like to pay tribute to the officers involved this morning who responded swiftly to this incident and put themselves in harm’s way, as they do every day, to keep the people of London safe.”

The incident is not being treated as terrorist-related, while the Directorate of Professional Standards has been notified of the incident.