University student describes scene at Westminster after "police officer stabbed"

Commons Leader David Lidington told MPs in the Chamber the “alleged assailant was shot by armed police” following a “serious” incident.

There are also reports five people have been injured by a car on Westminster Bridge.

A group of University of Sheffield students were on a tour of Westminster when the incident happened.

MA Print Journalism student Hannah Dodd (22) (pictured above) said: “I am in Portcullus House, which is opposite the House of Lords and we have been on a university tour.

“We had broke for lunch and were told to come back a little bit early to get through security.

“We were coming through the security doors and I was just being searched and people started shouting: ‘You need to run right now’ and police told us to run and then I overheard on an officer’s radio: ‘Officer down’ and everybody was shunted to the back of a cafeteria area.

“We were just filtered into the safest part of the Westminster building and we have just been told to wait until it’s safe to leave.

“It was quite frightening to be honest. It certainly got your heart racing.”

A member of staff in Westminster, who did not want to be named, told the Advertiser: “We have heard that gunshots have been fired but we are on the other side of the Houses so I don’t know that for sure.

“We can see Westminster Bridge and I think somebody has driven into five people.

“We saw people running down the street after the shots were fired. There is an ambulance outside and we are just staying in the office.

“There are loads of sirens outside and helicopters in the air.”

The member of staff added: “Parliamentary business has been suspended and we are waiting to find out what to do.”

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said armed police remain around the Houses of Parliament and the force was treating it as a “terrorist incident” until it knows more.