Three people have been injured after a car mounted a pavement and hit a crowd outside a London mosque in an Islamophobic hate crime attack after being subjected to a 'tirade of racist abuse'.

Police said "a number of pedestrians" were struck by the vehicle in Cricklewood in the early hours of Wednesday after Islamophobic comments were allegedly made by the occupants.

There were claims that the car, reportedly a Nissan Juke SUV, had swerved before knocking down a group leaving the Muslim prayer centre following a confrontation, which Scotland Yard described as an Islamophobic and racist hate crime.

Speaking at the scene on Wednesday afternoon, Chief Superintendent Simon Rose of the Metropolitan Police said it was "extremely fortunate" nobody had died and that the victims were "subjected to a tirade of Islamophobic and racist abuse".

The Hussaini Association, which had organised a lecture at the mosque near Edgware Road, described it as a "suspected premeditated Islamophobic attack", adding that the driver and passengers were heard "shouting anti-Islamic taunts at the crowd".

Taunts of "dirty Muslims" could allegedly be heard coming from the car, which contained three men and one woman, according to head of security Hassan Naddi.

The Metropolitan Police said the driver failed to stop. Officers are not treating it as terrorist-related but "the hate crime aspect of the collision is being looked at by detectives as an aggravating factor".