Parliament in lockdown after 'shots fired'

pulse 16:16 - 22 March 2017

A picture obtained from the Twitter account of James West, shows a car stopped on the sidewalk in front of the Palace of Westminster which houses the Houses of Parliament in central London on March 22, 2017 during an incident

The security alert was triggered after staff said they heard shots fired.

Britains Houses of Parliament were in lockdown on Wednesday after staff said they heard shots fired, triggering a security alert.

"We were called at approx 2:40 pm to reports of an incident at Westminster Bridge. Being treated as a firearms incident -- police on the scene," police said on Twitter.

A staff member in parliament who did not want to be named told AFP: "I definitely heard shots. I saw someone in dark clothing go down."