Notts family horrified after escaping London terror attack
Hayley Carrington, a mum who works at a Sutton supermarket was in London with her family when the 'horrific' incident occurred, and she and her partner Mark and two daughters were on the other side of the bridge as they witnessed a car mount the curb and run over pedestrians.
Hayley said: "We had travelled down to London to talk on the radio about the AT Society, and we had just stopped on the bridge to take some selfies literally a minute before all this happened.
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Hide Ad"I saw the car hit someone, and go over the bonnet. It was scary but we thought it was just an accident and he had stepped into the road.
"We were about to run over to help and then we saw the car carry on along the pavement running other people over."
Five people have now been confirmed dead since the attack at 2.40 on Wednesday, March 22, including armed police officer PC Keith Palmer, a woman hit by the car and the killer himself.
Reports claim a motorist mounted the curb and ran over pedestrians on Westminster Bridge before charging on foot at the gates of the Houses of Parliament and attacking an officer, reports claim.
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Hide AdAnd the local mum, who is active in the community and chief of fundraising at Asda in Sutton, said the
"Luckily for us we were on the other side of the road.
"It was so surreal. My husband shouted "God, he;s carrying on." My first instinct was for my girls and we just ran to a safe place.
"We didn't realise what had happened, when we got to the London Eye everything was quiet. it wasn't until later that the panic hit. We didn't find out how major it was until we saw on TV.
"If he had turned the other way we would have been killed. What's really scary is that the causeway was really busy and my daughter, Kira, is in a wheelchair so we were thinking of crossing the road. Thank God we didn't.
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Hide Ad"It was so scary, it was hard to comprehend that we were affected by a terrorist attack.
"We're thinking of the families involved and that police officer who was killed.
"It makes you think that it could happen to anybody. This guy just drove along a pavement. How do you stop that from happening?
The man, who was known to police, is said to have made entrance to the Palace of Westminster, where MPs were put on lock-down in the Commons chamber, and was shot by police.
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Hide AdAt least 40 others were given medical treatment and some were left with what has been described as 'catastrophic' injuries.
East Midlands Operational Support Service (EMOpSS), has said it is reviewing the deployment of all officers in the region following yesterday’s attack however Nottinghamshire'schief constable Craig Guildford said this morning h is resisting calls to see police routinely carry guns following the attacks.
Chairman of Nottinghamshire County Council, held a minute's silence in the council chamber after the attack. He said: "We will not be cowed, we will not be afraid, we will not be beaten."
Nottinghamshire MPs were in parliament when the House was put on lock-down and Theresa May was escorted away.
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Hide AdMansfield's MP Sir Alan Meale reported from the Chamber: Sir Alan told the Chad: "We've been locked-down in the chamber, there's about 250-300 people here and we've been told five people were injured by a car and somebody was stabbed.
"It's just what we've been told, but there's been a number of incidents in the Westminster area and it was described as 'suspected terrorist activity'.
"We're all safe here but it's the people outside we're concerned about who aren't safe."
Ashfield MP Gloria de Piero said she was following the development on television from her Westminster office, also on lock down.
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Hide AdShe said: "We've been told to stay where we are. I'm assuming all MPs are safe and our thoughts are with the police officer who has been injured. It's a shock, but we're just thinking about the police officers."
Sherwood MP Mark Spencer, MP for Sherwood, was also in the Chamber with other members.
"I'm a bit apprehensive and I sincerely hope any police involved in the operation are unharmed."