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Car Crashes Into Downing Street Gates -Man Arrested by Armed Police
Car Crashes Into Downing Street Gates -Man Arrested by Armed Police in Westminster
Footage shows the car veering across the middle of Whitehall, past the Cenotaph war memorial, before ramming into the gates of Downing Street shortly after 4pm
BBC 25 MAY 2023
Scotland Yard said it was not being treated as "terror-related".
In a statement released nearly two hours after the crash, the Metropolitan Police said: "A small cordon remains in place outside Downing Street after a car collided with the gates earlier this afternoon.
"The incident is being dealt with by local officers in Westminster and isn't currently being treated as terror-related."
The Metropolitan Police said there did not appear to have been any injuries, but there had been an arrest.
"Armed officers arrested a man on suspicion of criminal damage and dangerous driving after a car collided with the gates of Downing Street," a spokesman said.
"There are no reports of any injuries. Enquiries are ongoing."
Witness Simon Parry, 44, said he heard a "bang" and saw police pointing Taser guns at a man.
"I heard a bang and looked up and saw loads of police with Taser guns shouting at the man," he said.
"A lot of police vehicles came very quickly and were very quick to evacuate the area."
A man was being seen led away by police
Asked to describe the mood in the immediate aftermath, Mr Parry said: "We saw people that were in a panic running away and we saw people who were excited."
There is a heavy police presence in the area during the incident, with two police motorbikes blocking the entrance to Whitehall from Parliament Square and vehicles barricading the road from the Trafalgar Square end.
Entry to Downing Street is blocked by black gates, which are manned at all times by armed police officers.
The narrow street behind the gates contains No10, the Prime Minister's official residence, and No11, the official home of the Chancellor.
The gates were put up in response to threats from the IRA in 1989.
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