A male suspect wearing a fake suicide vest was shot dead on London Bridge in a terrorist knife attack, the Met Police confirmed.

Head of counter-terrorism Neil Basu said the incident was declared a terrorist attack and the suspect had been strapped with a device which they now know was a hoax bomb vest.

Police were called to the bridge in London at around 2pm to reports of a stabbing.

Several people are injured after being stabbed in the attack.

Mr Basu said he would give updates to the families of those injured ‘as soon as we can get that information’.

He added: ‘A number of other people received injuries during this incident. As soon as we can provide further updates on their condition, we will.

‘Our heartfelt sympathies go out to everybody who has been involved in this and is anxiously waiting for information on their loved ones.

‘As soon as we can get that information, we will get it to you.’

Footage on social media appeared to show the moment armed officers surrounded a person on the ground before firing a weapon.

Members of the public have been praised for helping police to detain the suspect, including a man who appears to remove a large knife from the scene.

London mayor Sadiq Khan thanked ordinary Londoners who demonstrated ‘breath-taking heroism’ in disarming the knife-wielding attacker.

He said: ‘What’s remarkable about the images we’ve seen is the breath-taking heroism of members of the public who literally ran towards danger not knowing what confronted them.

‘Members of the public didn’t realise at the time that was a hoax device, and they really are the best of us.’

The Met said it was called at 1.58pm to a stabbing near to London Bridge.

It is believed the stabbing may have begun inside Fishmongers’ Hall on the north side of the bridge, which is often used for events.

British Transport Police have closed London Bridge station and the London Ambulance Service earlier declared a major incident.

Several witnesses at the scene have described hearing a number of gunshots, before police evacuated buildings and told people to clear the area.

Chris Fleming, who was in London Bridge hospital at the time, told Metro.co.uk: ‘I arrived at the hospital to pick up my wife. As I signed in the receptionist took a call telling her the hospital would be locked down.

‘As I arrived at my wife’s room she asked had I heard shooting. She said therefore about 10 shots. Then at that point there were about 10 more.

‘We looked out the window and could see people running on the embankment below the bridge.’

He said the hospital was placed on lockdown with nobody allowed to go in or out.

American tourist Jacob Press, 25 from Washington DC said he only got to London yesterday but will be going home tomorrow.

He told Metro.co.uk: ‘I couldn’t see what was going on so I started walking closer to it, the cars had stopped, and as soon as I had got within 100 feet of that building I heard a lot of the gun shots, and then everyone just ran immediately across.

‘Like I said it sounded because of the echoing it sounded like it was coming from all over.

‘I just ran as fast as I could down to the stairs and then I was out of harms way. I got to London yesterday from Europe but now I’m ready to go back home.’

He added: ‘Security was pushing us closer to the Christmas market, because we were so close to the bridge.

‘They kept pushing us and pushing us and I called my parents to tell them I was okay. Police in boats and police in helicopters were everywhere.

‘I was terrified. The echoing of the bullets scared the crap out of me.’

The Prime Minister returned to Number 10 from his constituency of Uxbridge after news of the incident broke.

Boris Johnson thanked emergency services for their swift response.

The Prime Minister Tweeted: ‘I want to thank the emergency services and members of the public for their immense bravery in responding to this suspected terrorist attack at London Bridge.

‘This is an appalling incident and all my thoughts are with the victims and their families.’

A No10 source said: ‘PM on his way back to No10 from his constituency where he will receive further updates on the London Bridge incident.’

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