Belgian police have arrested a man after he tried to drive into a crowd at high speed in a shopping area of Antwerp, the city’s police chief said.

At 11am a car drove at pedestrians walking along the Meir, Antwerp’s largest shopping street, and “people had to jump to the side” to avoid the vehicle, said Serge Muyters, the Antwerp police chief.

The driver was arrested after a chase in the city centre.

Muyters said the suspect was a man of north African origin, who was wearing a camouflage uniform.

Belgian prosecutors said the arrested man was a French national who lived in France.

According to RTFB, the Francophone state broadcaster, weapons and military uniforms were found in the boot of the car, a red Citroën, and a security perimeter was put in place.

Bart De Wever, the mayor of Antwerp, said on Thursday afternoon that an attack had been thwarted in the city, according to local media reports. He added that extra police and army officers had been deployed.

The attack came a day after a car was driven at high speed along London’s Westminster Bridge in an attack that resulted in the deaths of four people – including the driver.

Wednesday was also the day that Belgium marked the first anniversary of the twin bomb attacks in Brussels that killed 32 people.

Belgium’s prime minister, Charles Michel, who took part in ceremonies to mark the first anniversary of the Brussels attacks, praised the work of the security services.

“We are monitoring the situation very closely,” he wrote on Twitter. “Our security services have been exemplary in their work in Antwerp.”

