Whitehall incident: Terror attack in Westminster foiled as man is arrested ‘with backpack of knives’

From The Telegraph and the Daily Mail

Police have foiled a suspected terror attack in Westminster after a man was arrested in a “stop and search” with a “backpack full of knives”.

Armed police swooped on Whitehall, close to the offices of the Treasury where they detained the suspect five weeks after the terror attack that killed five people.

A spokesman added: “The man, aged in his late twenties, was arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon and on suspicion of the commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism. Knives have been recovered from him. He is being detained under the Terrorism Act and is in custody in a south London police station. Detectives from the Counter Terrorism Command are continuing their investigation, and as a result of this arrest there is no immediate known threat.”

The arrest was made as part of an ongoing operation and it is believed the man was already known to police.

Eyewitnesses described seeing two large knives on the ground close to the scene of the arrest. One described the man as being of mixed race with short hair and a short beard.