Five people were killed, including an unarmed police officer, and around 40 others were injured, after a knifeman brought terror to the heart of Westminster during a suspected terror attack.

The attacker, armed with two large knives, mowed down pedestrians with his car on Westminster Bridge, including schoolchildren, then rushed at the gates in front of the Houses of Parliament, stabbing the policeman before being shot dead by other officers.

The fatally wounded policeman, who was unarmed, was named by Scotland Yard's top anti-terror officer Mark Rowley as 48-year-old husband and father Keith Palmer.

Glasgow Times:

Photo credit: PA

Mr Rowley told reporters outside New Scotland Yard, a short distance from the scene of the attack, that the death toll had been updated to five - including Mr Palmer, the suspect, and three members of the public.

Paying tribute to Mr Palmer, Mr Rowley said: "He was someone who left for work today expecting to return home at the end of his shift - and he had every right to expect that would happen. "

Some of those hurt have been described as suffering "catastrophic" injuries.

It came as th e Prime Minister vowed to defeat what she called "the forces of evil".

Mrs May, who was in Parliament at the time of the attack, praised the bravery of police officers who killed the attacker as he sought another victim.

She said any attempt to defeat the values that Parliament stood for was "doomed to failure".