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The Met Police were called to Westminster at around 2.40pm this afternoon after reports of a shooting. A statement released by Commander BJ Harrington at New Scotland Yard has since confirmed that ‘the Senior National Co-ordinator has declared this a terrorist incident’.
The statement continues: ‘We received a number of different reports – which included a person in the river, a car in collision with pedestrians and a man armed with a knife.’
The police have confirmed that four people have died in the incident, including a police officer and the attacker.
They are calling on anyone who has photos or videos of the incident to pass them onto the police, by uploading them here.
In the statement, the police ask the public to avoid the following places: Parliament Square, Whitehall, Westminster Bridge, Lambeth Bridge, Victoria Street up to the junction with Broadway and the Victoria Embankment up to Embankment tube.
TfL has also warned that buses in central London will be delayed, diverted and terminating early because of the incident. There is currently no service on the 507 bus, but you can get up-to-date information on which buses are running on the TfL Bus Alerts Twitter account. Bus tickets are being accepted on the tube.
Westminster tube station is closed and TfL is asking the public to avoid travelling to and from Victoria station, if possible.
TfL has just tweeted that Canning Town station is also closed because of a security alert outside the station, but it’s unclear at this stage whether the closure is connected to the earlier incident at Westminster.
UPDATE: Canning Town has now re-opened.
Keep an eye on TfL’s website for more information.
Photo: Laura McGregor