MORE than 50 pupils from a Bridgwater School were placed in lockdown in the Houses of Parliament following a terrorist attack.

Pupils from St John and St Frances School in Bridgwater were visiting the capital on a school trip when the horrifying incident unfolded yesterday afternoon.

The Met Police have confirmed four people, including police officer Keith Palmer, 48, and the attacker, were killed in the attack.

The attacker has been named by police as Khalid Masood.

Dozens of people were injured in the attacks.

The Met Police have confirmed they are treating it as a terrorist incident.

Parts of the capital are still in lockdown following the attack, and people who were inside the Houses of Parliament at the time were kept inside as the attack unfolded, including Somerset MPs and the children.

MPs and the Prime Minister Theresa May have returned to the House of Commons today.

The primary school pupils from St John and St Frances School in Bridgwater returned home around 11.30pm last night.


RELATED: Pupils return home after being caught up in London terror attack


As the attack unfolded, a statement on the school's website stated:

"We have spoken to Mr Piper in London and all children are safe. A text message has been sent out.

"Please do not call the school as we need to keep the phone lines clear.

"We will update you with further news as we receive it."

The schoolchildren were escorted out of the building by police.

Somerset County Gazette:

(The schoolchildren being led away)

Somerset County Gazette:

One stunned grandparent who spoke to The Mercury and wished to remain anonymous said: "We are shocked at the moment,they are still inside the building apparently.

"They left at 8am this morning and were expected to be back at 8.30pm, but it will now be later than that."

MP Ian Liddell-Grainger is also in the Houses of Parliament lockdown.

"All the children are OK. This is terrible, but they will not beat us.

"We are in touch with the school and their families.

"I cannot convey the sadness of all local MPs at this time."

As the MPs were holed up in the Commons, House of Commons Leader David Lidington told MPs a "police officer had been stabbed" and the "alleged assailant was shot. 

A Downing Street source declined to say where Theresa May had been during the attack.

Around three shots rang out outside the Palace of Westminster after a man ran through the gates into the front yard of the parliamentary compound apparently waving a knife.

Two people were seen being treated on the ground in New Palace Yard amid shouts and screams.

An air ambulance landed in Parliament Square and a regular ambulance came in through the front gates as medics rushed to help the injured people.

Armed police cleared the area around the incident and Parliament Square was closed to traffic.

A Downing Street source confirmed that Prime Minister Theresa May was "OK".

Mrs May was seen being ushered into a silver Jaguar car as what sounded like gunfire rang out at Parliament during the incident at around 2.45pm.

As the sitting in the House of Commons was suspended, Commons Leader David Lidington told MPs: "What I am able to say to the House is there has been a serious incident within the estate.

"It seems that a police officer has been stabbed, that the alleged assailant was shot by armed police.

"An air ambulance is currently attending the scene to remove the casualties.

"There are also reports of further violent incidents in the vicinity of the Palace of Westminster but I hope colleagues on all sides will appreciate that it'd be wrong of me to go into further details until we have confirmation from the police and from the House security authorities about what is going on."

Witnesses described seeing a middle-aged man carrying a knife and running.

Jayne Wilkinson said: "We were taking photos of Big Ben and we saw all the people running towards us, and then there was an Asian guy in about his 40s carrying a knife about seven or eight inches long.

"And then there were three shots fired, and then we crossed the road and looked over. The man was on the floor with blood.

"He had a lightweight jacket on, dark trousers and a shirt.

"He was running through those gates, towards Parliament, and the police were chasing him."

Her partner David Turner added: "There was a stampede of people running out.

"You saw the people and you thought 'what the hell is going on'."

Yeovil MP Marcus Fysh tweeted to confirm that he and his team were safe following what he described as a 'major terrorist incident'.

After the incident, Radoslaw Sikorski posted a video to Twitter purporting to show people lying injured in the road on Westminster Bridge.

Mr Sikorski, a senior fellow at Harvard's Centre for European Studies, wrote: "A car on Westminster Bridge has just mowed down at least five people."

Press Association Political Editor Andrew Woodcock witnessed the scenes unfolding from his office window overlooking New Palace Yard.

"I heard shouts and screams from outside and looked out, and there was a group of maybe 40 or 50 people running round the corner from Bridge Street into Parliament Square," said Mr Woodcock.

"They appeared to be running away from something. As the group arrived at the Carriage Gates, where policemen are posted at the security entrance, a man suddenly ran out of the crowd and into the yard. He seemed to be holding up a long kitchen knife.

"I heard what sounded like shots - I think about three of them - and then the next thing I knew there were two people lying on the ground and others running to help them. Armed police were quickly on the scene and I heard them shouting to people to get out of the Yard."

A witness, who did not want to be named, saw Mrs May and her undercover police detail near the area of Parliament where ministerial cars are parked.

He said there were undercover officers in a 4x4 vehicle in the car park.

"We just heard gunshots inside Parliament," he said.

"It looked like they are taking her away."

The Metropolitan Police tweeted: "We were called at approx 2:40pm to reports of an incident at #Westminster Bridge. Being treated as a firearms incident - police on scene."

Somerset County Gazette:

Mark Rowley, the national lead for Counter Terrorism Policing and the Acting Deputy Commissioner, said: "As you know we have declared this a terrorist incident and the Counter Terrorism Command are carrying out a full scale investigation into the events today.

"The attack started when a car was driven over Westminster Bridge, hitting and injuring a number of members of the public and three police officers who were on their way back from a commendation ceremony.

"The car then crashed near to Parliament and at least one man - armed with a knife - continued the attack, trying to enter Parliament.

"Sadly - I can now confirm that four people have died. That includes a policeman who was protecting Parliament from the attack and one man we believe to be the attacker who was shot by a police firearms officer.

"The officer's family have been made aware.

"At least 20 people have been injured.

"As part of long established and well rehearsed plans, Parliament was locked down and the Met responded in line with our plans for a marauding terrorist attack.

"That response included uniformed and specialist trained firearms officers.

"We have an ongoing operation - and whilst we currently believe there was only one attacker - I am sure the public will understand us taking every precaution in locking down and searching the area as thoroughly as possible.

"I know that the officials working within Parliament and the public completely understand why we need to do this and I thank them for their patience and support.

"This investigation has the full weight and expertise of the Counter Terrorism Command behind it. If there are people who saw the events unfold but haven't yet spoken to police please get in touch with us.

"A crime scene will remain in place in the affected areas in Westminster - it is vital that we carry out a painstaking investigation to recover all possible evidence.

"Looking forward, throughout the rest of the day including when people are commuting home and over the days that follow, the people of London will see extra police officers - both armed and unarmed - out on our streets.

"This includes our officers working longer hours and extra shifts and with our colleagues at British Transport Police and the City of London.

"We can call on the support of the military should we need to at a future point.

"We are also in the process of opening our specialist Casualty Bureau to help those people who are worried that friends or family may have been caught up in the attack.

"We are reaching out and engaging with all communities across London to help reassure them.

"Our strength as a city is our ability to stand together at such terrible times.

"If anyone sees anything suspicious or that causes them concern please do contact us - don't hesitate.

"My thoughts are with all those who have been affected by today's attack - and as a service we have lost one of our own as he acted to protect the public and his colleagues.

"This is a day that we had planned for - that we all hoped would never happen - but sadly it is now a reality.

"The Met Police will continue to do all we can to protect the people of London."

Somerset County Gazette:

Commander BJ Harrington at New Scotland Yard, said: "Since 2.40pm this afternoon (Wednesday, 22 March) the Metropolitan Police 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."