Statement from Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu in relation to this morning’s incident in Westminster

 

At 07:37hrs a silver Ford Fiesta was involved in a collision in front of the Houses of Parliament.

That vehicle collided with cyclists and pedestrians before hitting a barrier and coming to a stop.

Two people have been taken to hospital. One man has been discharged and one woman remains in hospital being treated for serious but thankfully, non-life threatening injuries.

Another man was also treated at the scene but didn’t require hospital treatment.

The driver of the Fiesta, who was alone in the vehicle, was arrested at the scene by armed officers who were already nearby.

The man, who is in his late 20s, was arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences and has been taken to a south London police station where he remains in custody.

Given that this appears to be a deliberate act, the method and this being an iconic site, we are treating it as a terrorist incident and the investigation is being led by officers from the Counter Terrorism Command.

Officers are searching the vehicle and no other weapons have been found at this time.

At this early stage of the investigation, no other suspects at the scene have been identified or reported to police. There is no intelligence of further danger to Londoners or the rest of the UK in connection with this incident.

Our priority is to formally identify the suspect and establish his motivations if we can. He is not currently co-operating.

However, as you would expect, detectives from the Counter Terrorism Command are making various other urgent enquiries to ensure there is no outstanding risk to the public.

I would urge anyone who thinks they may have information that could assist the investigation to call police on 0800 789 321. Thank you to all the people who have already come forward.

Similarly, anybody who captured footage or images of the incident can download these to us via our website www.ukpoliceimageappeal.co.uk

We are treating the scene and Parliament Square as a crime scene. Cordons are likely to be in place for some time as the investigation team continues to carry out its important work to establish what happened.

I appreciate that this has caused a great deal of disruption to those who may live, work or be visiting the area, and I thank the public for their patience and understanding whilst we deal with this incident.

We will be working as quickly and diligently as possible in order to reopen the area, but in the meantime I would ask that the public avoid the area.

The safety of the public is our top priority and the Met Police will continue to do all we can to protect the people of London.

As always, the public should remain vigilant and if you see anything suspicious or something that causes concern, then please dial 999.