seven are killed and almost 50 injured in a terror attack here in central london. a white van drove into pedestrians before three men jumped out and stabbed people in nearby streets. they were running in all the pubs, all the bars, i can't remember all of them, but they run in, and they were stabbing everyone, and i was going to people, "run, run, run!" distressing scenes as paramedics and the emergency services provided first aid. some of the injured are in a critical condition in hospital. everyone down! down! police placed several bars in lockdown. people were ordered to lay on the ground as officers searched for attackers. police say that within eight minutes of receiving first reports of the attack they had shot dead the three terrorists. senior officers say they believe the incident is under control. the prime minister condemned

the attack as a perversion of islam and vowed to crack down on extremism. there is, to be frank, far too much tolerance of extremism in our country. so we need to become far more robust in identifying it and stamping it out across the public sector and across society. this is the scene on london bridge. campaigning in the general election has been suspended for today by both the conservatives and labour. good afternoon from central london, where seven people have been killed

and many injured during the country's second terrorist attack in less than two weeks, and the third in under three months. let me bring you up to date with what we know about last night's events. officers were called to reports of a vehicle ploughing into pedestrians on london bridge shortly after ten o'clock. the vehicle crashed and was abandoned. the attackers then moved a short way down the road, to nearby borough market, where they began stabbing people. within eight minutes, by 10:16pm, all three attackers were shot and killed by police. this morning, in downing street, the prime minister condemned the attack,

saying, "it is time to say enough is enough." we will bring you the very latest on the events, with reports and analysis in this extended programme. our first report on the attack is from dan johnson. you may find some of the images distressing. sirens. the warmth of a summer's evening shattered by sirens. clear the area now! a huge police response answering urgent calls for help. whoa. just after 10pm, this white van was driven at people who were walking across london bridge. it crashed near southwark cathedral. witnesses say three men got out and ran towards borough market, stabbing anyone in their way. that is terrorists. there was a bar full of people there just having a good time, and they went running straight into them, and then i'm not too sure what they were saying,

i think they were saying, "this is for allah," and people, you could hear them screaming, they were getting stabbed. when i first see them, they were, "this is for allah," and they run up, they stabbed this girl, i don't know how many times, ten times, maybe 15 times. and she was going, "help me, help me," and i could not do nothing. down, down! terror rippled through the area's bars and restaurants. police ordered people to get down as they tried to identify the attackers. others were told to run, as armed officers moved in and cleared the area. then this. gunfire. less than ten minutes after the first calls, it was over — three attackers shot dead. they had canisters taped to their bodies, made to look like suicide vests — but not real, the police say.

the ambulance service and hospitals put emergency plans into action. paramedics were there quickly, trying to save lives. on the bridge, people were treating those who'd been hit. for emergency services and for passers—by, instinctive reaction or practised major—incident response, there was praise. i visited one of the hospitals where the injured are being treated. there, i heard truly remarkable stories of extraordinarily brave actions by officers on and off duty who were first on the scene. i also heard of colleagues from other emergency services and members of the public who ran towards the danger as this incident unfolded. many, many people risked their own safety to help others and to treat those seriously injured — and indeed to confront the suspects involved.

behind a growing police cordon, teams were still checking the area, for a while unsure if other attackers were still a threat. there were controlled explosions as they searched buildings. once again, terror has torn through the election campaign, and the prime minister has been forced to confront some of the toughest issues. our country has made significant progress in disrupting plots and protecting the public. but it is time to say enough is enough. everybody needs to go about their lives as they normally would. our society should continue to function in accordance with our values. but when it comes to taking on extremism and terrorism, things need to change. democracy has been interrupted for the second time in a

fortnight, as politicians attended an emergency cabinet committee meeting with security officials. london's mayor describe a city wounded but resolute. my message to londoners and visitors to our great city is to be calm and vigilant today. you will see an increased police presence today, including armed officers and uniformed officers. there is no reason to be alarmed by this. we are the safest global city in the world. you saw last night, as a consequence of our planning, preparation and the rehearsals that take place, the swift response from the emergency services, tackling the terrorists, but also helping the injured. the police investigation is spreading already. this morning, officers raided a flat in east london, but they have not confirmed its connection. there are reports of arrests. there is a large area around london bridge that is still take..., arts of extra officers are on duty. there are plenty of questions for investigators and a lot for people to absorb. london has

been through this before, but it is still a test of the city's resolve. danjohnson, still a test of the city's resolve. dan johnson, bbc news, still a test of the city's resolve. danjohnson, bbc news, central london. let's go to our correspondent sophie long, who's by the banks of the river thames alongside london bridge. explain what is happening where you are, sophie. well, you can see london bridge behind me, it is closed, the buses on its stationery. on the banks of the river thames, it is calm, it is peaceful today, the opposite of the scenes here 15 hours ago. just after ten o'clock last night the attackers drove their van across the bridge, ploughing into pedestrians. they then abandoned their vehicle, run down the road, attacked people in bars and restau ra nts, attacked people in bars and restaurants, stabbing them at random. the police investigation is ongoing today, there is a large area still cordoned off. what is crucial

for them is to find out who those men were and whether they were acting as part of a wider circle. for people who don't know borough market, it is a real foodie for people who don't know borough market, it is a realfoodie haven, it attracts tourists from all over the world, but it is also a place loved by locals. i have been speaking to many of them today, some of whom were caught up in the carnage. they have talked about the panic that in student as the attackers burst into bars and restau ra nt attackers burst into bars and restaurant is, and they have also praised the brilliant and fast work of the emergency services. i think you get the sense that because of the location, this was an attack not just on london but on londoners and their way of life. they are said to me today that they will not be terrorised, they will not live in fear, they will continue to enjoy their great city in the way that they always have. but as you say, this is the third terror attack in britain in as many months, and there are questions being as the day about how, about why they were able to strike in this way again. thanks for

now, that is sophie long at london bridge. let's hear a little bit more from people who did witness everything here last night. one couple who live above the southwark tavern in borough market witnessed the incident as it unfolded from their window. they were able to see everything that unfolded. they've been speaking to our home editor, mark easton. around about 10:10, we were just watching a film, windows wide open, and wejust heard commotion, you know, glass smashing, you know, tables and chairs being tipped over. high—pitched screaming. lots of screaming, yeah, so ijumped up, and i looked out the window onto what would be southwark street, and i saw lots of people screaming and running and just trying to get out of the way of something. most people trying to run down into the underground station, run down borough high street. yeah, people were running everywhere, you heard a man on the phone saying, there'd been a stabbing, "there's been a stabbing which..." and it was when i saw lots of people running down into the underground that i thought it seemed a lot more serious, because it was mass panic — it wasn't just a fight,

it was something serious. and there was one ambulance that had obviously gone to this stabbing. one young guy seemed to come out of the pub, and he was knocking on the window of the ambulance, he was in a panic, saying, "you have to help me, my friend, he's been stabbed, and he's in the pub." whether or not he got stabbed in the pub or outside the pub, i don't know, and he said, "my friend's been stabbed, he's in the pub." and there was another guy who was probably in his 405, standing on the other side of the ambulance, knocking on the other window, saying, "i've been stabbed," and he was covered in blood. i'm not sure if i've got this wrong now, because i haven't seen it on the news, but i am convinced that i heard some sort of bang in the slug and lettuce. people came out screaming. lots of people came running out of the slug and lettuce, then armed police ran in there, and it was in that kind of area, all the borough high street area we heard another series of gunshots. so i looked out the window, and there was loads of armed police. it was when everything seemed to calm down. everything seemed to calm down... yeah, there wasn't a lot of people around, and there were a lot of police still,

not many people, but then we were looking at the window, and the bomb robot turned up. yeah, and then claudia said, "it looks like there's a bomb squad here," so i shouted down... at this point, they had cleared everyone out of the whole area, so i shouted down and said, "we are still up here, what should we do?" and then one of the police officers said, "get out, you have to get out of the building now." he was like, "look, just run." the experiences there of one young couple in borough market. let's head tojoin our couple in borough market. let's head to join our correspondent helena lee, bring us up to date with all those who were injured last night. it took just those who were injured last night. it tookjust six those who were injured last night. it took just six minutes for that first ambulance to arrive at the scene where you are last night, 80 medics were involved trying to treat the injured at the scene, including advance trauma units and paramedics, and also london's air ambulance. 48

patients were brought to five different hospitals across london, the most seriously injured were brought to king's college hospital and royal london, because they have major trauma units. they have told us major trauma units. they have told us that 14 patients were admitted here, one has since been discharged, and also at the royal london, 12 patients were admitted to that hospital. they have been treated for a variety of injuries, but we know this lunchtime that many are still ina this lunchtime that many are still in a critical condition in hospital. we are also getting a picture of the injured, we know that four are french, one is australian, and among those injured are police officers as well. and as those injured are in hospital being treated by medical staff, they will start to begin to try to process exactly what happened to them last night. helena, thank you, helena lee, at king's college hospital. let me give you that

number if you have concerns about family orfriends number if you have concerns about family or friends who may have been caught up in everything here in central london last night. it is a freephone number. that is the emergency helpline number if you are worried that perhaps you have friends or family who may have been in the area of london bridge or borough market here last night. the prime minister made a number of forthright statements about the threat from terrorism and how the country should respond in her downing street speech. here's a little more of what she had to say. in terms of their planning and execution, the recent attacks are not connected, but we believe we are experiencing a new trend in the threat we face, as terrorism breeds terrorism, if and perpetrators are inspired

to attack, not only on the basis of carefully constructed plots after years of planning and training, and not even as lone attackers radicalised online, but by copying one another, and often using the crudest of means of attack. we cannot and must not pretend that things can continue as they are. while the recent attacks are not connected by common networks, they are connected in one important sense. they are bound together by the single evil ideology of islamist extremism that preaches hatred, sows division and promotes sectarianism. it is an ideology that claims our western values of freedom, democracy and human rights are incompatible with the religion of islam. it is an ideology that is a perversion of islam and a perversion of the truth.

defeating this ideology is one of the great challenges of our time. since the emergence of the threat from islamist—inspired terrorism, our country has made significant progress in disrupting plots and protecting the public. but it is time to say enough is enough. everybody needs to go about their lives as they normally would. our society should continue to function in accordance with our values. but when it comes to taking on extremism and terrorism, things need to change. as a mark of respect, the two political parties have suspended our national campaigns for today. but violence can never be allowed to disrupt the democratic process, so those campaigns will resume in full tomorrow, and the general election will go ahead as planned on thursday. as a country, our response must be as it has always been when we have

been confronted by violence. we must come together, we must pull together, and united we will take on and defeat our enemies. theresa may speaking outside downing street earlier today. our home affairs correspondent, daniel sandford, is outside scotland yard for us now. what's the latest on the investigation? once again the centre of london is alive with the screams of police sirens dashing from location to location. the first release job is to deal with the crime scene, a massive crime scene, from london bridge the borough market asharq wrote the first police job. —— the first policejob. wrote the first police job. —— the first police job. they have been starting to identify but suspects they shot. there have been a series of raids in barking. i2

they shot. there have been a series of raids in barking. 12 people have been arrested, not all will turn out to be involved, but 12 people associated with at least one of the suspects shot dead last night, an important part of the inquiry, was there anyone else apart from the main perpetrators, as the prime early macro home secretary described them? four of their own officers we re them? four of their own officers were injured, two seriously, one from the british transport police, seriously injured, and an off duty metropolitan police officer, a rugby player, he tackled one of the attackers last night and he himself sustained bad knife injuries. he is seriously injured in hospital but not thought to be suffering from life—threatening injuries. not thought to be suffering from life-threatening injuries. daniel, when we hear the strong tone from the prime minister, when she talks about changes, what might it actually mean? a powerful phrase

from theresa may, things have got to change. it echoes what tony blair said after the 7th ofjuly bombings in london 12 years ago when he said, the rules of the game are changing. she specified a few things, one was there should not any longer be a safe 5 pa ce there should not any longer be a safe space on the internet. but will be highly controversial, after the edward snowden revelations, when people are concerned about encryption and wanted to make sure governments are not spying on them on the internet, naldo governments are saying, we need to make sure there is not a safe space on the internet for extremism to breed. she has also talked about longer sentences for people found guilty of minor terrorism offences, echoing tony blair 12 years ago, trying to step up the seriousness of the punishments given to people who get involved in extremism. daniel sandford, thank you very much, our home affairs correspondent. frank

gardner, our security correspondent. three attacks in the uk in about three months. are we looking at any sort of pattern here? what is your assessment? it is starting to look like a concerted campaign by so—called islamic state. the backdrop to all of this is that there is a concentrated stream of propaganda coming out of what is left of so—called islamic state but is calling on the followers to carry out attacks on crusader civilians, ordinary people, to you and me. not just in britain, but across continental europe too. the attacks we have seen in london last night followed, i'm afraid, the exact instructions of what has been pumped out of mosul, wherever they are hiding, to do exactly this. it is in reaction to the fact that self—professed caliphate they have got there is shrinking, it is being

defeated by forces on the ground. the islets dilley margret ideology will not go away. the numbers are scary. —— the ideology. there are 500 active plots being investigated, 3000 so—called subjects of interest, people under surveillance, and a further details dozen people known to the authorities. the questions now are going to be who else is a pa rt now are going to be who else is a part of this? is anyone else linked to it customer did anyone else know about it who could have stopped it? -- is about it who could have stopped it? —— is anyone else linked to it? last night's attack comes just four days before the general election. the prime minister announced it will go ahead as planned. people will go to the polls on thursday. national campaigning has been suspended by all major parties apart from ukip. the latest report on all of this comes from our political

correspondent, le price. an all too familiar sight. flags flying at half—mast over downing street, as senior cabinet figures and police officials arrive at a cobra meeting to discuss last night's attack. just four days before a general election, the main parties announced they would postpone national campaigning. but it would get underway again tomorrow. so there's a balance of things here. on the one hand, clearly we want to respect the people who have been injured and killed. we want to pay proper respect, and therefore, we don't want to carry on across it. but on the other hand, the people doing this are doing this because they despise the freedoms that we have. and those freedoms can be the freedom to go out on a saturday night or the freedom to cast their vote. the labour leader, jeremy corbyn, said despite today's campaign suspension, the democratic process must not be disrupted. i can't recall any other election when there's been anything like this. this has got to be the worst. i hope that it will not disrupt our process, because we have to have a democratic process.

but i also hope we will reflect on the need to have sufficient police officers on our streets, and also sufficient intelligence to look at the terrorist threat. but in response, as in manchester, all communities must come together. it is right that we suspend our national campaigning. but it's also right that we get the balance right. and we are proud of our democracy, and that in the midst of an election, all parties, no matter who you support, ought to continue with that local campaigning, and we should get on with the national campaigning soon. it must not be that the terrorists put us in a position where we weaken our democracy in response to that outrage. in scotland, the snp leader and first minister nicola sturgeon, also not campaigning, will chair a meeting of the scottish government's resilience committee in the wake of the attack. but unlike the other main political parties, ukip say they won't suspend national campaigning today. the prime minister says we must not have the democratic process stopped by terrorism, therefore we're going to suspend campaigning.

we think the opposite of that. we think we should be having an honest conversation about the real mistakes we've made in the past, and what we need to do to put this right. this election campaign has seen two terror attacks in as many weeks. when the campaign does get back under way tomorrow, it's likely to be more muted and the issue of security firmly on the minds of voters. and our political correspondent, ellie price, is in downing street now. your thoughts about the ramifications this might have in terms of thursday's vote. we might have just found the first thing all of the political parties agree on something the prime minister said a few hours ago. violence can never be allowed to disrupt the democratic process. but there is no doubt we are in uncharted territory. the last sunday before the election campaign, it usually is one of the busiest days before the election. all the

party leaders were expected to make campaign speeches today, they have all been put on hold. there is no doubt this event will affect this campaign both in terms of tone and content. all the parties now have a difficult line to tread between being seen to respect those who have died and not be seen to be seeking to make political gain or capital out of these events, but also to be seen out of these events, but also to be seen to address the big concern of voters which is the big issue of security. there is a sense that they will not let terrorism disrupt this campaign but it mayjust define it. thank you for now. there has been reaction from around the world to this attack in central london. president trump called the prime minister to offer his condolences for what he called the brutal terror attack. the french president, emmanuel macron, said his country

was standing, more than ever, side by side with the uk. here's our diplomatic correspondent, james landale. this attack may have been targeted on the people of london, but the threat of terrorism is global, and world leaders were quick to show their solidarity. australia's prime minister said that two australians had been directly affected by the incident. we send our heartfelt sympathy and love to the victims and their families, and to the people of britain. this attack is yet another cruel example of the new reality in which we live, the ever—present threat of murderous islamist terrorists. from across the world, leaders took to social media to express their horror and sympathy. chancellor merkel saying that germany stood firmly and decisively at the side of great britain in the fight against terrorism. in new york, the authorities increased security across the city, particularly in areas full of pedestrians and tourists, like here in times square.

donald trump called theresa may to offer his condolences. in a series of tweets, the president offered his help, but he also used the incident to renew his demands for a ban on travellers from six mostly muslim countries. and he also appeared to criticise the mayor of london, sadiq khan, for saying there was no need to be alarmed. at a security conference in singapore, new zealand's defence minister echoed theresa may's call for tighter controls over the internet. we know that terror organisations look to galvanise support and exploit porous borders, disenfranchised individuals, and the access provided by the internet and social media. this is a clear and present security threat to us all. four french nationals were caught up in the attack, and france's new prime minister visited a crisis centre monitoring events. security has already been tightened at polling stations in london for next week's elections

to the french parliament. la france et le royaume—uni... translation: france and the united kingdom are allies that have been subjected to a common threat, and we will be united in ourjoint response to it. president macron spoke to theresa may this morning and reminded the prime minister of the importance of european cooperation in the fight against terrorism. james landale, bbc news. of course, this attack comes less than two weeks after the bombing in manchester, in which 22 people and dozens were injured, at a concert by the american singer ariana grande. the there is a benefit concert taking place tonight in manchester to raise money for people who suffered in that attack. the organisers have said the concert is

going ahead. let us go to the venue andjoin our going ahead. let us go to the venue and join our entertainment correspondent. give us a sense of what people are saying there and what people are saying there and what the mood is in the run—up to the concert. there has been a noticeable step up in security in the last hour. it has been described asa the last hour. it has been described as a ring of steel around old trafford cricket ground with police brought in from all around britain, from essex, from road —— from humberside. the armed police, not your normal site at a pop concert. the fans have been queueing up since 9am and many have said the families begged them not to come after the events in london last night but they said they wanted to be here, as an act of solidarity to ariana grande and to not let them win. we have heard from ariana grande's manager and he it has been an incredible

achievement to get this cake together 13 days since that concert at manchester arena. to put into context the achievement, at live aid in wembley stadium in 1985, there we re in wembley stadium in 1985, there were 20 acts crammed into ten hours and today there are 11 acts in just three hours. it will be a real achievement to get them all on