London attack as it happened: Five dead and 40 injured after terror incident in Westminster

Now being led out in line, very orderly

On @skynews now, a woman has been pulled alive from the River Thames

A reminder that the Met has asked people to be careful when sharing images, and to make sure that anything that might be of interest is forwarded on. That can be done from the devotes police website:

Here's the full statement from the police:

Since 14:40hrs this afternoon (Wednesday, 22 March) the MPS has responded to an incident in the area of Parliament Square, and the Senior National Coordinator has declared this a terrorist incident.

And although we remain open minded to the motive, a full counter terrorism investigation is already underway - this is led by the Met's Counter Terrorism Command.

At this stage I will confirm what we know has happened, but I will not speculate.

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.

Officers were already in the location as part of our routine policing operation. Immediately, additional officers were sent to the scene and that included firearms officers.

We are working closely with the London Ambulance Service and the London Fire Brigade.

I'd like to repeat our request for the public to avoid the following areas:

Parliament Square; Whitehall; Westminster Bridge; Lambeth Bridge; Victoria Street up to the junction with Broadway and the Victoria Embankment up to Embankment tube.

This is to allow emergency services to deal with this ongoing incident.

There is an ongoing investigation being led by the Counter Terrorism Command and we would ask anybody who has images or film of the incident to pass those to police.

We know that there are a number of causalities, including police officers, but at this stage we cannot confirm numbers or the nature of these injuries.

Our response will be ongoing for some time as it is important that we gather all possible information and evidence.

Public safety is our top priority and we are reviewing our policing stance across London and throughout the course of this afternoon there will be additional police and officers deployed across the Capital.

I would like to ask the public to remain vigilant and let us know if they see anything suspicious that causes them concern and dial 999 immediately.

The Acting Commissioner Craig Mackey is being treated as a significant witness as he was at the scene when the incident started. Whilst he is not injured, it would be inappropriate for him to talk about the incident at this stage. Ours and his thoughts are with all those involved and those responding to both incidents.

Anyone with information can also call 0800 789 321.

I thought we were being evacuated, but we're not. We've been herded into room on the estate for safety

...odd atmosphere in here. Some ppl working, others looking shaken others angry at being herded around the place.

Police at London tube stations, people at St James' Park unsettled. Person tripped by stairs and bang caused brief panic in carriage

Foreign Office Minister Tobias Ellwood was pictured with a bloodied face after giving first aid to one of the casualties of the Westminster terror attack.

The former army officer gave mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to a person injured within the grounds of Parliament.

He was pictured amid the carnage in New Palace Yard. Tory colleague Maria Miller said he "has given mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to one victim".

It is not the first time Mr Ellwood's life has been touched by an atrocity. His brother Jonathan was killed in the 2002 Bali bombing.

Eyewitness Hugh Dickinson, a 21-year-old student from High Wycombe, posted a picture of the minister on Twitter, showing the minister bleeding, but saying "he looked to be fine".

Mr Dickinson said: "He had blood on his forehead as you can see but he wasn't bleeding profusely.

"It looked like either a smear or graze and you can see some on his cuff too if you zoom in. He looked to be fine - no obvious limp or anything."

The Bournemouth East MP is Foreign Office Minister, with the Middle East, Africa and counter terrorism listed among the areas within his brief.

Parliament staff have been escorted to Westminster Abbey. Everyone's details will be taken. #bbc #Westminster… twitter.com/i/web/status/8…