LONDON • Police arrested a man on suspicion of terrorism offences yesterday, saying he appeared to drive into cyclists deliberately before ramming his car into security barriers outside the British Parliament building, in what appeared to be the second attack on it in just under 18 months.

The British man, said to be 29 and originally from another country, injured three people as he drove through the group of cyclists and pedestrians before hitting a barrier outside the Parliament building during the morning rush hour.

"Given that this appears to be a deliberate act... and this being an iconic site, we are treating it as a terrorist incident," said London Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu.

AC Basu said the man was not co-operating with police. He was not believed to be known to security forces, he said.

None of the injuries was life-threatening, officials said.

Police said a silver Ford Fiesta collided with cyclists and pedestrians before crashing into the barriers outside the Houses of Parliament at 2.37pm Singapore time.

"The driver of the car, a man in his late 20s, was arrested at the scene by armed officers," the police said.

"He was arrested on suspicion of terrorist offences. There was nobody else in the vehicle, which remains at the scene and is being searched. No weapons have been recovered at this stage."

Last March, 52-year-old Khalid Masood killed four people on nearby Westminster Bridge before stabbing to death an unarmed police officer in the grounds of Parliament. He was shot dead at the scene.

It was the first of five attacks on Britain last year which police blamed on terrorism.

The London Ambulance Service said it treated two people at the scene yesterday, and they had been taken to hospital. A third person with minor injuries was assessed at the scene.

Armed police cordoned off a large area around the Parliament grounds in central London, usually bustling with tourists and government workers. "It is a very serious incident," witness Jason Williams told reporters. "There was smoke coming from the vehicle."

Camera footage showed the vehicle taking a wrong turn into a group of cyclists waiting at a traffic light before veering across the road and into a lane used for accessing the Parliament building, where it struck a barrier and came to a halt.

Images shot by a Euronews journalist showed police pointing their guns at the vehicle shortly after the crash. Footage on social media showed a handcuffed man being led away by heavily armed police.

Other footage showed a cyclist lying on the street.

British Prime Minister Theresa May said her thoughts were with the injured.

Britain is on its second-highest threat level of "severe", meaning that an attack is considered highly likely.

The authorities said a dozen Islamist plots had been foiled since Masood's attack last year.

Last week, a Muslim convert admitted plotting to kill more than 100 people by driving a truck into pedestrians on London's Oxford Street, the capital's major shopping thoroughfare.

REUTERS