Two people have been injured after a car crashed into them ‘at speed’ before hitting a barrier outside the Houses of Parliament.

The car came to a standstill against a ‘stop’ barrier towards the House of Lords end of the Palace of Westminster and counter-terrorism command are leading the investigation.

Police confirmed that a number of people were injured in the collision that is being treated as an act of terror and the driver has been arrested while a witness described seeing several cyclists being hit.

They later added that none of those injuries are believed to be life-threatening.


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Armed police descended on the scene immediately after the crash (Picture: ITV)

A man was taken into custody following the collision outside the Houses of Parliament (Picture: Sky News)

Local businessman Jason Williams said he had seen a man drive a car into a bollard outside the Houses of Parliament, which is currently in recess.



‘He had driven it at speed – more than 40 mph. There was smoke coming out of the car,’ he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

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‘I have seen people on the ground, lying on the road. I don’t know if they have actually been hit by the vehicle or not. I saw at least 10 people lying down.

‘I was told basically to move away, to run. I have run for my life.’

Scotland Yard confirmed that the incident is being investigated by counter terrorism officers.

The driver of the car did not immediately get out of the vehicle (Picture: GMB/ITV)

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It is not currently known how many people were injured when the car hit them outside the Palace of Westminster (Picture: PA)

However reporters at the scene said they were told the cordon being put in place was a ‘terrorism act cordon’.

Images posted to social media showed a male suspect, wearing a black puffer jacket, surrounded by officers, being led away in handcuffs from a silver-coloured Ford.

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London Ambulance Service confirmed that two people were injured and treated at the scene.

Eyewitness Ewalina Ochab told the Press Association: ‘I think it looked intentional – the car drove at speed and towards the barriers.’

She said: ‘I was walking on the other side [of the road]. I heard some noise and someone screamed.

A cordon has been set up covering a wide area around the Houses of Parliament (Picture: PA)

A man was arrested by armed police at the scene (Picture: ITV)

‘I turned around and I saw a silver car driving very fast close to the railings, maybe even on the pavement. The person driving did not go out.’

The vehicle did not appear to have a front registration plate when it crashed, she added.

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Streets around Parliament Square, Millbank and Victoria Tower Gardens have cordoned off while police, ambulances and firefighters arrived at the scene. Westminster tube station has been closed.

Firearms officers and at least two police dogs are stationed inside Parliament Square. Police said in a statement: ‘At 0737hrs today, a car was in collision with barriers outside the Houses of Parliament.

‘The male driver of the car was detained by officers at the scene. A number of pedestrians have been injured.

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The car crashed into a stop barrier close to the House of Lords entrance (Picture: Sky News)

Bus driver Victor Ogbomo, 49, was driving passengers past the front of Westminster when he saw the crash.

‘All I saw was the smoke coming out of a vehicle, a silver vehicle … I just stopped the bus,’ he told the Press Association.

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‘The police said we have to move back, then in less than five minutes the response team came.



‘They went to the vehicle, so we had to push back. I saw the car in the barrier, I didn’t know how it got there.

‘I think someone was inside the vehicle because many police went towards the vehicle.’

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A bus was evacuated close to the scene after the driver saw the car crash into the barrier (Picture: Reuters)

He said officers had their guns out when they arrested the driver.

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London Ambulance Service said: ‘We were called at 7.40am today (14 August) to reports of an incident on St Margaret Street, SW1.

‘We sent a number of resources to the scene including three ambulance crews, responders in cars and an incident response officer.

‘We have treated two people at the scene for injuries that are not believed to be serious and have taken them to hospital.’

Police descended on the car which had been badly damaged towards the front (Picture: PA)

Armed response units swiftly descended on the area shortly after the collision (Picture: Reuters)

‘Officers remain at the scene. We will issue further info when we have it.’

The Houses of Parliament are surrounded with security barriers of steel and concrete.

The measures were extended in the wake of the Westminster Bridge attack in March 2017 when Khalid Masood ploughed a car into crowds on Westminster Bridge, killing four people.

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Masood abandoned his car then stabbed and killed unarmed Pc Keith Palmer before he was shot by armed police in a courtyard outside Parliament.

Parliament Square has been closed off and people were being moved away from the area following the crash.

A police officer’s radio suggested that the counter terrorism unit was now responding to the incident.

Scotland Yard said that they were responding to reports of a collision in the Westminster area.

The cause of the collision is not yet known (Picture: PA)

The car pictured immediately after the collision before armed officers arrived at the scene (Picture: PA)

A large cordon has now been set up in the area as an investigation gets underway (Picture: Alex Lewis)

It was not immediately known if the incident was terrorism related (Picture: PA)

Westminster Bridge has been closed along with Millbank all the way to Lambeth Bridge and Parliament Square (Picture: PA)