LONDON - British Prime Minister Theresa May has called a terror attack outside a London mosque on Monday (June 19) a "sickening attempt" to destroy freedoms in the country.

"This was attack on Muslims near their place of worship" said May outside Downing Street. "Like all terrorism of all forms, it shares the same fundamental goal…to break the bonds of solidarity in this country".

A white man aged 48 was "bravely detained" by people at the scene, she said, adding that he is believed to have acted alone, reported The Financial Times.

May said the government was determined to tackle extremism, "whoever is responsible," after a string of attacks in the past few months.

"There has been far too much tolerance of extremism in our countries…extremism of any kind including Islamophobia", she said.

The government will establish a new commission "for countering extremism, to help fight extremism in the same way we fought racism", said May.

May later visited the Finsbury Park mosque in north London near the scene of the attack where a van ploughed into worshippers, reported Reuters.