POLICE carried out a controlled explosion on a "suspicious package" found in Westminster this evening.

Witnesses described hearing loud bangs near Parliament Square at around 8pm.

Suspiscious package found close to Westminster. 100m exclusion zone. V close to Treasury #WestminsterAttack pic.twitter.com/5Kg5TPoBWB — Laura Bundock (@laurabundock) March 23, 2017

Just heard a bang across Parliament Square outside our Parliament office, but no idea what it was. Hopefully nothing. — Gordon Rayner (@gordonrayner) March 23, 2017

The package was an unattended bag and has since been found not to be suspicious.

Police cordoned off part of Horse Guards Parade, close to where thousands of mourners gathered for a vigil in Trafalgar Square following yesterday's terror attack.

Workers in nearby offices were evacuated while cops investigated.

Paul Abernethy wrote on Twitter: "'Down in Westminster, just heard what sounded like an explosion.

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"Not sure what happened though. Police said they were dealing w/ new incident."

A Met Police spokesman confirmed officers were called to Birdcage Walk.

The cordon has since been lifted after the unattended bag was deemed safe and a controlled explosion carried out.

Westminster Police tweeted: "Unattended bag found Birdcage Walk/Horseguards was not suspicious.

"All cordons put in for safety being lifted. Thanks for your patience."

1 At least 40 people were injured when an attacker ploughed his car into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge and stabbed a police officer Credit: Getty Images

It comes after five people were killed in a terror attack in London yesterday.

The killer drove a 4x4 into crowds on Westminster Bridge before smashing into railings outside the Houses of Parliament.

Khalid Masood, 52, then stabbed hero police officer PC Keith Palmer to death before being shot dead.

Today The Sun joined the campaign to raise more than £250,000 to help his grieving family.