hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm rebecca jones. today at 2: three quarters of npower‘s workforce — up to a,500 jobs — are at risk, as a restructuring plan is announced. the energy retail market it's usually challenging. the price cap doesn't help. that means that companies cannot secure a fair return on their investment. what we wa nt to return on their investment. what we want to see as strong companies that can provide strong and secure employment. borisjohnson sets out what he says are the benefits of brexit, promising it will be easier to protect british jobs. show me what democracy looks like. thousands of students walk out of class to demand stronger governmental action on climate change ahead

of the next un climate conference starting in chile on monday. coming up on afternoon live, all the sport — gavin has the details. and turmoil at arsenal... yeah, absolutely. arsenal sacked head coach unai emery after a dreadful run of form. reaction later. thanks gavin. thomas has the weather details. not hard a cold snap is upon us. a lot of sunshine, crisp autumn weather. also, some fog. more in a bit. thanks, tomas. also coming up, a manuscript written by elizabeth i is discovered — a translation of a book praising the monarchy, complete with her distinctive messy handwriting.

hello everyone. this is afternoon live. i'm rebecca jones. 4,500 workers are set to lose theirjobs, after the energy firm npower announced it's closing three customer service centres in the uk. unions have called it a cruel blow in the run up to christmas, but the company, which is german owned, says it's been struggling for some time and that the british market is particularly challenging. the cuts represent three quarters of the company's uk workforce. here's our business correspondent, theo leggett. hello, penny from npower speaking. how can i help? it's one of the best—known names in the uk's energy sector, one of the so—called big six suppliers, but for years npower has been struggling. competition in the market is intense and this year the government decided to cap the most expensive tariffs.

now workers are likely to pay a heavy price. npower was recently taken over by its rival, the german company eon, and the new owner wants to cut costs by merging many of their operations. the energy retail market is extremely challenging. we've seen 20 companies leaving the market, 20 companies, many of which have failed, and that's because the energy retail market is hugely challenging. the price cap doesn't help and that means companies, well—run companies like eon, cannot secure a fair return on their investment. eon is expected to close npower‘s customer service centre at houghton le spring near sunderland. more than 2000 people work here. this site in hull, which employs 600 people, is also looking vulnerable, and a similar number are based at another site in worcester. all told, a500 workers, three quarters of npower‘s staff, could lose theirjobs. it's a terrible blow for families and for the communities that depend

on thisjob. we are three and a half weeks out just before christmas and this news will have just dropped on them today, although for many of them they've been expecting it. we knew things were difficult for npower but it's probably the worst possible news that the worst possible time. but while the announcement is clearly deeply worrying news for npower‘s staff, it should make little immediate difference for its customers. e.0n says their accounts will be taken over with a minimum of fuss. what is not so clear is what the impact on people's bills will be in the longer term as the big six players in the energy market become to all intents and purposes a big five. with me now is christina mcanea, assistant general secretary to the union unison. thank you for coming in to talk to us. thank you for coming in to talk to us. clearly a severe blow to npower workers. what are the wider

implications? well, the wider implications? well, the wider implications are notjust implications? well, the wider implications are not just for implications? well, the wider implications are notjust for those individuals and their families, but for the communities around those areas with these cuts. lots of smaller business supply npower and supply services to the staff. it has an impact wider than just the workers themselves. but the wider implications are that this is probably the first but probably not the last that will see of these kind of colla pses the last that will see of these kind of collapses of energy companies. this has been going on for a number of years. basically the sector is in chaos. the government has not done anything about it, to try and bring anything about it, to try and bring any order or stability into the sector. the company blames, amongst other things, the energy cap on prices, which has clearly been good for consumers. but not so good for workers. should that go? it's difficult to argue against it but i think there is a misconception about it. the energy cap caps the price

per unit of energy, and it particularly helps low—income families who were perhaps not able to shop around and get access to the best deals. lots of consumers have not seen any benefit at all. there is no doubt that the cap, the price cap, has had an impact. we would probably say it was set at the wrong level for the start. are you not saying it would be better if prices we re saying it would be better if prices were not regulated ? saying it would be better if prices were not regulated? not at all. but what we are seeing is the whole sector needs to be regulated, not just prices. you have the six big companies but a myriad of smaller companies but a myriad of smaller companies taking away chunks of the business, leading to greater instability and basically an unsustainable model going forward. we have been arguing for some time now, for a number of years, that this part of it, the retail part of it, the bit that buys the energy, should be consolidated into one company and should be nationalised,

brought back into public ownership basically, so that there is one point where the energy is bought and then that is regulated by the state in terms of how it is sold and sold on to consumers. nationalisation is obviously part of labour party policy at the election. the cbi says that nationalisation will put prices up. how can that be a good thing? that nationalisation will put prices 7ii think the cbi probably would say that because the companies are their members. it is not surprising they would say that. we have done our own research. because we are talking not s0 research. because we are talking not so much about the system is that actually produce the energy, but the actually produce the energy, but the actual retail side of it, how you by the energy and how you sell it on. if that was consolidated into one state owned company we think it would cost around five to £6 billion. it is expensive but in terms of the government spending strategy it is not massively expensive. but what we think it would do is it would give the government access to a range of

staff. these staff who have been made redundant are people who know how to deal with consumers and customers and the client group. you should have them into advocates for a greener economy. any government thatis a greener economy. any government that is serious about decarbonisation has to start that process somewhere decarbonisation has to start that process somewhere of ensuring that the conversation is going on with the conversation is going on with the british public about how you decarbonise. and what you can do is turn these staff into that trained workforce that has that conversation. i'm interested in this because one thing that you and the company seems to be agreed on is the fa ct company seems to be agreed on is the fact that the market place is so challenging. it is very challenging at the moment, particularly in this country. if the industry is changing so country. if the industry is changing so fundamentally, what can you as unions control? i can see that you are asking government to do something but perhaps you have to change your approach as well? what we can do at what we have been doing is we are very open to work with government and employers and

companies. 0n how you retrain staff, how you make the sector more viable, more sustainable, and we are more than happy to have this conversation with any government that gets into power. it's interesting, eon, which owns npower, is offering reskilling and retraining to people whose jobs are under threat. does that reassure you? well, yeah, we do want all of that, but retraining and reskilling, if there are no jobs to go to, doesn't really help. for many of the people who work in that —— they sector, they will be lost to the energy sector. many have built up considerable skills over the years in dealing with customers and client relationships. it would be a shame to lose that at a time when we are seriously having to look at how you engage with the british public about changing the way that we use energy. and that is what we are arguing for. we are saying there is an opportunity here for a government to come in and see how they can harness

what is currently in the sector, let's bring these people together, let's bring these people together, let's retrain them, let's rescale them, let's use the skills they have currently got and be able to talk to the gritty public about a new way of using and consuming energy. —— what might be able to talk to the public. what have your work has been telling you today? they are devastated. in certain areas like worcester and sunderland, where this employer is one of the biggest employers in the area, one of the biggest employers in the area , even one of the biggest employers in the area, even though it is not going to happen immediately, it will probably happen immediately, it will probably happen in the next 12 months. it is a huge body blow for people. three and a half weeks before christmas. they have already made their plans. people are genuinely devastated. thank you so much for coming in to talk to us on bbc news. we are grateful. thanks. reports are coming in of an incident at london bridge. john mcmanus is at the scene and he joins

us now. mcmanus is at the scene and he joins us now. what are you seeing and hearing, john? you can probably hear gunshots behind me. i don't know if you can. there have been several now on london bridge. i will tell you what i saw. just a few minutes ago i was walking across london bridge from the south bank to the north bank of the bridge, there appeared to bea bank of the bridge, there appeared to be a fight going on on the other side of the bridge with several men attacking one man. police quickly arrived, including armed police, and then a number of shots were fired at this man. police have now cleared the bridge. everybody has been told to move back. i am now on the northern side of the bridge. there are more shots going on. i cannot see what is happening now. we have been moved out of the way. there are shots going on. you can probably hear the police sirens. the entire bridge has been moved. right from the north of the bridge until near the north of the bridge until near the bank of england is being cleared. we are being told to move back. it sounds very frightening, john. remind us of exactly where this is in central london? this is

london bridge, which is one of the bridges that spans from london bridge to the station over the river thames, to the north side of the times, to what is called the city of london, very close to the bank of england, st paul's cathedral. it is a major bridge. it is a thoroughfare. it is the bridge we a lwa ys thoroughfare. it is the bridge we always see when tv people want to illustrate thousands of people going to work. this is where the incident is going on. more police coming into the area. they are telling people to clear, to move back. we have been moved back about, while hundreds of metres back on the northern side of the bridge. i can only assume the same has happened on the southern side of the bridge as well. just to repeat what i said, there appeared to bea repeat what i said, there appeared to be a fight going on on the bridge. several people tried to restrain a man. it was then armed police arrived and fired shots at this person. the last i could see before we were moving from the

bridge was him lying on the ground. since then, we have been moved back. i have heard several more shots fired as well. at this moment it is still a developing situation. john, you are talking to us, it is coming up to quarter past two. when did this happen? this started happening about seven to eight minutes ago. that is when i first noticed a commotion in the bridge. and i was crossing it myself. it has been going on for about seven, eight minutes. it seems to be a full—scale incident now. there are masses of police here. i think i have heard ambulances as well. all the traffic you're on the northside has been com pletely you're on the northside has been completely stopped. the roads have been closed. i can see police putting up a ticker tape so traffic can't access london bridge. police are pushing us back even further. we are pushing us back even further. we are being pushed right back to move away. you can probably hear that

going on in the background, with police officers telling people to move further out of the way. an incident still going on right now. as you say, an ongoing incident. either hundreds of people around? it isa either hundreds of people around? it is a busy friday afternoon, presumably? it is a busy, sunny friday afternoon with lots of people on the street. many people going into london bridge, which is a major train station, for people travelling to the south of london and the south coast. of course, this is the business district as well. the city of london. it is incredibly busy. right now all of the traffic has come to a complete halt. police ticker tape has gone up. there are police cars everywhere. traffic is being turned around and sent back to where it came from. the whole of london bridge has now been sealed off. armed police on the bridge right now. john, for people who have justjoined us, it is worth reiterating what you told us at the

beginning. yes, exactly. coming up to about ten minutes ago, as i was crossing london bridge from the south side of the bridge across the river thames to the north side, i noticed what appeared to be a fight going on on the other side of the bridge. that is what i thought initially. i saw some people running past me. they seemed to be pretty scared. i looked across and i could see several men who seemed to be trying to be restraining summary, but i could not see what was going on. at that point armed police suddenly arrived. the men who were restraining somebody else appear to run away and shots were fired by the couple of armed police officers who we re couple of armed police officers who were there. more police then arrived. the bridge was cleared entirely. police putting everybody back shouting at us to move out of the way. and now the whole bridge has been closed off. i don't know what has happened to the person on the bridge he was shot. and i don't know what the circumstances were that it came to be for that person

to be targeted. but clearly a major incident going on with lots of armed police now in the area. the city of london, this part of a just by the river thames, completely closed off now to traffic. we have been pushed, pedestrians have been pushed right back. you can probably hear, more police arriving now into the area. from what you are saying, police arrived on the scene pretty quickly after that first shot you heard? yes, from what i could see, bear in mindi yes, from what i could see, bear in mind i was on the other side of the bridge, the other side of the road from where this happened, from what i could see it was the police who fired the initial shots. i don't know whether the person fire that was armed or not. but i know before the police arrived several people we re the police arrived several people were trying to restrain him in some way. somebody next to me said they thought it was just a fight. that is what i initially thought. it immediately became much more serious. the police moving us even further back. away from the bridge.

we are some distance from the bridge. everybody being moved back. the buses have stopped. all the traffic and taxis have stopped. cyclists are being told to turn around. everybody been moved out —— out of the way, way from the northern part of london bridge back to the city. i appreciate you have been moved away. there is a photograph on twitter showing a truck past —— park across london bridge. i don't know if you know anything about that? sorry, i lost the signal. can you please repeat that? i know you have been moved away but if there is a photograph on twitter showing a truck parked across london bridge. i wonder if you knew anything about that?” don't know about that but i do know that all the traffic stopped while this incident began to develop. so the side of the bridge that i was on, traffic was moving south and everything stopped as this fight began. i think drivers who are perhaps close to the scene saw something that i could not see from

where i was. all the traffic stopped on both sides of the road. that may be why there was a truck there. yeah, iamjust be why there was a truck there. yeah, i am just reading some copy that has come into us from the metropolitan police. they say, "we are in the early stages of dealing with an incident at london bridge. please follow at met police uk." that is a twitter handle for updates. "if you are near the scene, please follow the directions of any officer on the ground." that's just coming in from the metropolitan police on their twitter page. and you have been explaining, john, that it would appear that summary has been shot. as the shooting stopped now? —— someone has been shot. can you still hear me, john? there are lots of people on their mobile phones now. we are being moved back

onto a major road in the city of london, being told to move back even further now from the bridge. in fa ct, further now from the bridge. in fact, i am further now from the bridge. in fact, iam right further now from the bridge. in fact, i am right by the walkie—talkie building, if you know where that is in the building, a famous building back in the city. that is however —— far back we have been moved. police putting us back even further. i was just wondering if you can confirm whether the shooting has now finished? you can't hear any more shots being fired, or can you? i haven't heard any in the last few minutes. when we were on the bridge police appeared to fire two shots. there was somebody lying prone on the ground on the pavement, on the side of the bridge. as we we re on the side of the bridge. as we were moved back, i was asked... john clearly losing signal there. as i said, metropolitan police have tweeted that we are in the early stages of dealing with an incident at london bridge. please follow the

metropolitan police twitter feed. at london bridge. please follow the metropolitan police twitterfeed. if you are near the scene, please follow the directions of any officer on the ground. as we were hearing from john there, the police were moving people back. but it is a very busy part of london. a very busy intersection. roads and rail and friday afternoon. i am joined now by andy moore. andy, we are seeing metropolitan police confirming that an incident has, is happening at london bridge, that they are dealing with. what more information do you have? i have spoken to the met police. i spoke to them about five to ten minutes ago. they were not able to tell me any more at that stage. as you said, we have got this very brief tweet from the police confirming an incident but not giving us any more detail. the

basics, as we know from john, shots have been fired. it appears a man was restrained. from photographs and images at the scene we can see a lot of traffic. we can see one white truck that appears to be across the bridge. it may be simply that that truck is trying to reverse, to get out of traffic. we don't know if thatis out of traffic. we don't know if that is relevant to the incident. i just give you that as a sense of what is happening there at the moment. it appears to be an incident thatis moment. it appears to be an incident that is certainly ongoing in terms of containing it, asjohn was saying, the general public are being pushed back. images from the scene and show a lot of police vehicles that were obviously there very quickly. and interestingly, andy, london ambulance service has said they have cruise on the scene at london bridge. i don't know if you heard ofjohn, butjohn was talking about the fact that he has certainly

seen about the fact that he has certainly seen at least one person lying on the ground ? seen at least one person lying on the ground? that's right. we have no further details about the number of casualties. it appears there may be one casualty at least. it was certainly a very large and quick response by the emergency services. it's very unusual to hear shots fired without some sort of warning, without the police responding to shots. so why that was, we just don't know at the moment.” shots. so why that was, we just don't know at the moment. i think it is worth you reminding us what we do now? what we know is that this incident started probably about 15 minutes ago on london bridge. the first we heard was in fact from john, our reporter on the scene. reports of shots fired. he was the eyewitness. what we hear is that there appeared to be a fight of some sort. that some people, we don't

know if they were police officers or they didn't appear to be in uniform, they didn't appear to be in uniform, they were trying to restrain a man on the ground. it appears that while he was prone on the ground, a number of shots were fired. and then we heard from john that even several minutes later it appears that a number of further shots were fired. so we have confirmation from the metropolitan police in a brief tweet saying they are in the early stages of dealing with an incident at london bridge. they are urging people to follow met police updates and they are urging people near the scene and they are urging people near the scene to follow the directions of any officer on the ground. we know there is a large response by the police, by the ambulance service. and that a perimeter is being set up around the incident and the general public are being told to move back. yes, as you say, british police, police saying that a man appears to have been shot in this incident. at

london bridge in the heart of london. they are in the early stages of dealing with it. as you are saying, john said that he thought he heard two shots being fired. and we know that ambulances are on the scene as know that ambulances are on the scene as well. it sounds quite a major incident, doesn't it? but as you say, the police response was incredibly swift? that's right. we don't want to jump to conclusions. we do not know if this is a terror incident. it may be a criminal incident. it may be a criminal incident of some sort, where police are searching, for example, for an armed robber and they have been on the tail of this man and they have found him and shots are fired. but we do know also that the bridges across the river thames have been the subject of previous terror incidents. so we have to bear that in mind, perhaps, when we are trying to understand what is happening. but it does seem to be, the police have

not declared it a major incident. but the fact that they are urging police to follow for updates, means they are treating it as a serious incident. stay with us because i think we can talk again to our correspondentjohn mcmanus, who was in the area when this incident started unfolding. he is still there and brought us the first report of the incident here on bbc news. john, can you hear me? yes, i can. the signal has improved a bit. what is happening there at the moment?- the moment i am on a street, a famous old street, in the city of london, which leads from the northern end of london bridge. this is where there are now hundreds of people spread out because they are unable to get to where they are going. they and i were moved back from the bridge when this began to develop about 15 minutes ago. the initial shots were fired. i think they were by armed police. hundreds

of people now stood here. we have all been moved back. you can probably hear the helicopters in the sky above me. nobody is allowed anywhere near london bridge. and in fa ct, anywhere near london bridge. and in fact, many hundreds of people now walking back past me trying to find another bridge to cross the river times because london bridge is com pletely times because london bridge is completely closed. there are, i think, hundreds of police officers at the scene. many of them armed. john, did you just happen to be in the area? yes, i was crossing london bridge into the city to run a few errands for myself when this began to develop. i think i told you before i was on one side of the bridge walking north into the city of london from the south bank of the times, when i saw what appeared to bea times, when i saw what appeared to be a fight going on on the other side of the bridge. people started running from the scene, running past me. i thought it was initially a fight, i me. i thought it was initially a fight, i heard a member of the public next to me saying she thought it was a fight. but then there were several people who seem to be trying to hold somebody down on the

pavement. they suddenly got up and ran away and that is when armed police arrived. two shots were fired. then the bridge was immediately cleared by police and we we re immediately cleared by police and we were told to move away. i moved to the northbound of the bridge. many more police then arrived. i was moving away from the bridge. when i was out of sight of the bridge i heard several more shots being fired. it must have been very frightening, john? it was slightly surreal, actually. what began with what i thought was a strange incident on the other pavement from where i was, that turned into something much more serious on what isa something much more serious on what is a really lovely sunny november afternoon in london. i wasjust crossing the bridge, admiring the view of the river thames when this began to unfold. i know you have been moved back. you may not be able to a nswer been moved back. you may not be able to answer some of these questions. can you see the bridge where you are and do you know what happened to the person who was shot? we know that

ambulances have arrived at the scene. ambulances have arrived at the scene. the person who appeared to have been shot, the last i saw when i was being moved off the bridge, was lying prone on the western side of the bridge on the pavement on the western side. they were lying on the ground. it didn't —— they didn't appear to be moving from what i could see but police were nevertheless pointing their guns at this person and shouting at everybody else to move away from the bridge. so that person, it appears, has been shot. shots were fired. there were plenty of members of the public around on the bridge when that happened. we were very swiftly cleared off. i can't see what is happening on the bridge now. we have all been moved hundreds of metres away. we are out of the way of operations. police officers have arrived and have cordoned off the road entrances to london bridge. they are turning people back. they are turning cars and buses and taxis

back. nobody can get anywhere near. there are several buses that have just stopped in the middle of the road. i think their passengers have been told to leave the buses. they have been moved back as well. the roads are simply at a standstill.m is worth mejust roads are simply at a standstill.m is worth me just reminding roads are simply at a standstill.m is worth mejust reminding people that you are listening to our correspondent, john mcmanus, who first brought us news of these incident at london bridge, where police said that a man appears to have been shot in an incident there. we have heard from the police, who say they are in the early stages of dealing with an incident at london bridge and a spokesperson has said it appears somebody has been shot. john, you were there. you said you thought two shots had been fired. videos and photographs on twitter are certainly showing police cars and buses on the bridge and also a truck straddling several lines. how

busyisit truck straddling several lines. how busy is it where you are? extremely busy. this is a huge commercial centre and it is part of the city of london. london bridge is an extremely busy one, please write to london bridge station, which is a huge mainline train station in london, with trains going to the south—east and south coast. a lot of people use it. john, you are breaking up again. we will come back to you as soon as breaking up again. we will come back to you as soon as we can breaking up again. we will come back to you as soon as we can get through to you as soon as we can get through to you. i am sure a lot of people are using their mobile phones. but for now, thank you. let's try to talk to noah partner who is stuck in the restaurants —— bodner. i understand you didn't see

anything that people have been coming into the restaurant and talking about what they saw. so what have you heard? yes, there was a rush of people coming in and then everybody basically dived under the table. we were told to keep away from windows. people came from the outside and were saying that shots we re outside and were saying that shots were fired. at that point we didn't know if it was police firing or somebody else. we were then advised by the staff, the manager here jordan, who very bravely ran and shut the door is a major everything was locked and nobody did come in, to move away from the front of the restau ra nt, to move away from the front of the restaurant, which is literally sat on the bridge to the back here. and everybody seems to be calm and in good spirits here. just looking for more information on their phones and getting some water and just asking if people are ok and if anything is needed. and the police had been in the restaurant and told people to

stay fit? know police have come into the restaurant that i have seen so far but i think they might have contacted them either by phone or some way telling us to stay in until further notice, and there seems to be some sort of commotion happening right now outside the station side. people have seen running but i'm not sure what that is. police is present. you say a commotion, can you give us any further details? what can you see? we just saw a couple of people running past, and police telling people to stay away. i don't know. and a carjust came onto the bridge. i assume it is police. and how many people out there in the restaurant with you, would you estimate?

there in the restaurant with you, would you estimate 7” there in the restaurant with you, would you estimate? i guess around 70 people or so. quite a large number, then? can you repeat that? quite a large number then. as the mood fairly calm? it is. some people seem a mood fairly calm? it is. some people seem a bit distressed but they are being looked after by friends or staff. the rest of them are just trying to stay put and keep calm. and just remind us what it is people said to you who rushed into the restau ra nt said to you who rushed into the restaurant after the incident appeared to unfold. they basically went get under the table, shots have been fired, we've heard gunshots. and they ran in because the restau ra nt and they ran in because the restaurant is actually on the bridge, is it? it is on the bridge, so bridge, is it? it is on the bridge, so they ran in and the staff went to the door and shut it and locked it. thank you. you are watching bbc

news. i want to recapture just what has been unfolding in the last half an hour. emergency services have been called to london bridge amid reports of shots being fired. the metropolitan police have said they are currently dealing with an incident at london bridge, and have put out on their twitter page, asking people to stand by for updates. the london ambulance service has said it has cruise at the scene. the bbc correspondent john mcmanus was the first person to bring us news of this incident at london bridge in the heart, of course, of the capital, because he was on the bridge at the time, and he said he had heard several gunshots on the bridge. when quoting him now, he saidjust gunshots on the bridge. when quoting him now, he said just a few minutes ago, i was walking across london bridge on the south bank to the north bank, and there appeared to be a fight going on in the other side

of the bridge with several men attacking one man. this is what our bbc correspondentjohn mcmanus saw. various other people on social media have also reported hearing gunshots in the area. let's speak now to someone in the area. let's speak now to someone who is near london bridge. thank you forjoining us here on bbc news. what is it that you have seen and heard? so i was outside, i literally just had my lunch and heard? so i was outside, i literallyjust had my lunch break, went to the terrace where i work, overlooks london, then all of a sudden we saw some police cars and moments later we heard two gunshots. we thought it was gunshots, we thought it was fireworks but couldn't be sure. then a couple of minutes later i just couldn't be sure. then a couple of minutes later ijust heard a lot more gunshots and people started to run off the bridge, onto the roads

again. buses were stopped, a lot more police cars and ambulances started to arrive on the scene. so it has been pretty hectic and a lot happening within ten minutes. hectic and quite frightening, i would imagine. you paint a very vivid picture. can you give us any sense of how many people you think might have been involved in the incident? what did you see? the thing is, there were a lot of people on the bridge, it is late at lunchtime, people going back to offices. i want to say it was probably around 300 people on the bridge, and then running away. i saw some people on the roads. but it was all a bit, i couldn't really see it that much because there were cars and buses on the way. our correspondence john mcmanus was on the bridge at the time said that police arrived at the scene very time said that police arrived at the scene very swiftly. was that your sense as well? yes, definitely.

literally i turned around for one second and turned back around and there were loads of police cars around. and other emergency services, ambulances, have you seen them as well? i have. a lot of ambulances. we are just looking now at pictures, i think these are pictures that you actually took. just explain to us the north side and the south side, what are we seeing exactly? we just and the south side, what are we seeing exactly? wejust panned up to the sky actually. just tell us again, here we are, can you just explain what it is the photographs you took. the photograph i took? the film i shot. that was facing away from london bridge station,

it looks a very busy scene. are you still in the same place. have you still in the same place. have you still got that view? i can walk there now, i have moved away to be away from the helicopters, but i can walk there now and so far i can see all the roads have been blocked off and no one really allowed to go to the scene. police and the emergency services are keeping people well back from the bridge, i would imagine. thank you for now. i think it is worth reminding people if they have just joined us that it is worth reminding people if they have justjoined us that police in london are dealing with a major incident at london bridge, in the heart of the capital of course. john mcmanus, a bbc reporter who was at the scene says he saw a struggle between a group of men and heard shots being fired. we are now looking at pictures of london bridge, these taken by the

helicopter. you can see that buses and coaches there are completely at and coaches there are completely at a standstill. these taken just within the last few moments, we understand that the bridge itself of course has been closed. police were on the scene very, very swiftly. i have still got our correspondence andy moore here. you are watching these pictures with me. has any more information coming to you? we have a report from reuters news agency, very reputable, quoting a british security source, saying that according to that source, somebody has been stabbed in the london bridge area, and police have shot a suspect. so that may give us some indication as to why this person was shot by armed police, and why armed police were on the scene so rapidly.

that is from reuters, saying they understand somebody has been stabbed in the london bridge area. separate to that, i have seen some eyewitness video shot at the scene, some of it from a bus, which i'm sure we will get to you shortly, and what it shows is somebody lying prone on the ground. they are not moving. we don't know if they are alive or dead, but the armed police are standing some distance away. now thatis standing some distance away. now that is interesting, because if somebody is shot and they are no longer a threat, you would expect police to move in to check on the condition of that person to see if they can help with any first aid. the fact that the police are standing at some distance suggest to me that there may be a fear that there are explosives on that person. they are certainly treating that suspect with some concern. that is what the eyewitness video is showing. andy moore, for now, thank you, just as you are watching those

pictures with me, you can see that the bridge has been sealed off, and members of the public are being directed away from the area. details still coming in of course. sian griffiths is education editor at the sunday times, and her office overlooks london bridge. thank you so overlooks london bridge. thank you so much for hanging on to talk to us here at bbc news. what can you see where you are? i am on the ninth floor of our building, which is at london bridge. we have just been told we have gone into lockdown, which means we can't leave the building, people can't come in. so we have a view right over the bridge and we can see that there are no people on the bridge any more, no pedestrians. all of the buses are halted. there are about eight red buses halted on the bus lanes all along the bridge. there are about four, five, six police cars i can count with their lights flashing along the bridge. there is a lorry

at right angles across the bridge, across three lanes, and police cars blocking the south end of the bridge and a lot of police people walking around. you said you were up on the ninth floor. did you hear anything? ididn't, but ninth floor. did you hear anything? i didn't, but somebody else who works with us since she was outside and heard gunshots. she wasjust at the edge of the bridge and she heard gunshots and people started running, and she came back upstairs. she had about four gunshots, she says, before she came back into the building, andl before she came back into the building, and i was so there was a panic and lots of people running. no, iam panic and lots of people running. no, i am sure. for people who live in london, they will be well aware of the london bridge, but perhaps for people who don't, you work there, can you give us a sense of just how busy it is? it is really,

really busy and of course there was an attack on london bridge not that long ago. the terrorist attack. so after that they put up a special like a balustrade along the bridge so like a balustrade along the bridge so people couldn't drive off the road into pedestrians, but it is co nsta ntly road into pedestrians, but it is constantly busy. buses, cars, b i cycles, constantly busy. buses, cars, bicycles, it is one of the busiest of bridges in london, and at the moment there are no pedestrians. the only cards on it, everything is halted. as you are looking out of the window, sian, can you see police around somebody lying on the ground? i'm just wondering if you can see anything that suggests the incident is over or potentially is carrying on. i can't see around anyone from where i am. i can see groups of

police standing at the south end of the bridge, in between two police vans. there are probably about 15 police standing at the south end of the bridge in two groups. there are police now running up the bridge, they are running up the bridge, two police are running up the bridge. it looks like they are going back to one of the police cars that is parked on the bridge. i don't think the incident is over because it was only about five minutes since this building was put into lockdown, so clearly they are trying to keep people away from the area. sian edwards, thanks so much for talking to us for now. it is worth me bringing you up—to—date with some lines coming into us from the news agencies. writers, a reputable news agency, is saying that police are saying they were called to a stabbing near london bridge, and a man has been detained. as you can

see with me now, british transport police have said london bridge station has been closed, and trains are not stopping there either, as you would imagine. writers are also reporting it is believed that somebody was stabbed in the london bridge area today, and police have shot a suspect. amanda hunter was on a bus when the shooting happened, and shejoins a bus when the shooting happened, and she joins us a bus when the shooting happened, and shejoins us now. thanks for joining us on bbc news, amanda hunter. hello. tell us is what you saw. the i guess i wasjust on a bus coming home, the 21 bus, and just all of a sudden it stopped, there was some commotion, and looked out the window and i just saw these three police officers going over to a man. i believe he was carrying, it seemed like there was something in his hand, i'm not100% seemed like there was something in his hand, i'm not 100% sure but then one of the police officers shot him.

and then from there i was able to ta ke and then from there i was able to take a video of the scene. so we we re take a video of the scene. so we were stopped on the bus may be for only a minute or a minute and a half and then we were able to safely get off the bridge. so where were you exactly amanda at this point, on the bridge? on the bridge, right at the beginning of london bridge. so the bus came off the bridge and that is when you got off? yes, got off to go home. and i understand from john mcmanus, the bbc correspondent who was already at the scene and watched it unfold is that the emergency services arrived very quickly. was that what you saw as well? no, we didn't even see any emergency services coming. we were literally there a minute or two minutes but there a minute or two minutes but there was only three police officers at the time. by the time they got off the bridge, that is what i started hearing the sirens. we are hearing from news agencies that a man has been detained, and a number

of people have been injured. i think it is worth you telling us just again what it is you saw from your bus. ijust saw again what it is you saw from your bus. i just saw there was a again what it is you saw from your bus. ijust saw there was a man, when i looked up ijust saw a man and three police officers around him, trying to put him on the ground, then i heard about three shots on the man and the police officers, the three of them went away from the suspect. and how where other people responding? where people fairly calm or rather more panicky? yes, we were alljust in shock because it happened so quickly and we didn't really know what was going on. everyone wasjust kind of in shock. it looked like the people, the pedestrians on the bridge, some of them were not even that aware of what was going on. it happened so quickly. police say they were called

at 1:58pm just before 2pm here in london to a stabbing. police are saying at a premises near to london bridge. we know that emergency services, as you can see, are already at the scene in large numbers. we understand a man has been detained by police. we do understand that a number of people have been injured. 0ur correspondent andy moore keeping us updated. anything new come into a since we last spoke? i think we are getting the first definite information about what happened now from the metropolitan police from an authoritative source. they say there was a stabbing incident. we had only heard that as a rumour before so now it is confirmed by the metropolitan police that there was a stabbing of some sort, and that several people have been injured as a result of that. i'm just seeing, we've got

something also coming in from the press association, and they are talking about police say they are treating the evacuation of the area surrounding borough market as a major incident, so that is a declaration of a major incident by the police. the press association is quoting a man who works across the road from borough market. the site ofa road from borough market. the site of a previous terror attack in 2017 of a previous terror attack in 2017 of course. said he had heard reports of course. said he had heard reports ofa man of course. said he had heard reports of a man with a knife who had been shot by police. he also says a lorry crossed over into both lanes, and police were shooting at it from both sides, he said. apparently there was an assailant with a knife. they have tapered past our office now and we can't get in. so according to this eyewitness. the police have taken a great deal of interest in a white truck that was parked across the

road. i referred to this being the site of a terror incident in 2017. that was where a group of terrorists rammed into people on the bridge and then they got out of their vehicle, and they went into borough market, with a number of people before being shot by police. we haven't had it confirmed it is a terror incident but it is at a location where there was a terror incident back in 2017. the london ambulance service it is interesting have declared what they describe as a major incident at london bridge. they along with the police are clearly there at the scene police are clearly there at the scene in large numbers. the bridge, as we have seen, is closed. people have been moved away. you are watching these pictures with me. people being moved away from what is a very busy part of london. but

clearly of the emergency services on the scene. in the london ambulance service have declared a major incident. that's right. we can see the fire service in attendance there as well. london station has been closed off. everyone in the emergency services are in attendance at this incident. what we're hearing from police is there was a stabbing. talk about several people being injured. presumably one of those is the man who was shot, who we understand to be the assailant. add to the ingredients of this incident reports of shots being fired at a white truck that is straddling the bridge. it may turn out in the fullness of time that some of these reports are well—meaning but totally

inaccurate. this is what happens when you have a major incident like this. they will be erroneous reports, people will be scared, they will think something is happening when it is not. but certainly from the authorities, from the police, we now know that this incident started with a stabbing and a man was shot by armed police. i was talking about some very interesting images from a bus. there was a man lifeless on the ground. next to these concrete barriers that were erected in the wa ke barriers that were erected in the wake of the 2017 attack, and armed police it appeared had incapacitated the man but were standing some distance away from him. normally they would move in to arrest the man, to offer some sort of fierce —— firstaid. 0n man, to offer some sort of fierce —— first aid. on this incident, they we re first aid. on this incident, they were reluctant to go near the man, they were standing back some distance and keeping their weapon

trained on him. stay with us because i know you are monitoring all the latest information as it comes into us. latest information as it comes into us. the emergency services have cordoned off london bridge in the centre of the capital of course, after shots were fired. the metropolitan police have said they are dealing with an incident at london bridge which the london ambulance service has declared as a major incident. and our correspondentjohn mcmanus was on the bridge at the time said he saw what appeared to be a fight between a group of men, heard two shots and then saw a man as he described it, prone on the ground. on the telephone now is ian. i wonder if you could tell us what you saw. i'm afraid not very much. we work in the building just at the end of london bridge, we were evacuated the fire alarm went off and we were pushed back onto the footpath. as we came

out of the building we have the first police shots. i walked up the steps to try to get up to the bridge, we were assuming things were over and finished, and the police with submachineguns told me very urgently with submachineguns told me very urge ntly to with submachineguns told me very urgently to get back down to the footpath again. a few more minutes we had perhaps another eight shots. it sounded as if they were from a different weapon. but i'm afraid from where we were, just on the footpath at the edge of the bridge and we can't see onto the bridge itself. i can see the buses stopped. ican itself. i can see the buses stopped. i can see police boats on the river stopping any river traffic going under london bridge but i haven't seen any under london bridge but i haven't seen any of the incidence of the stabbing or the shooting. butjust to clarify what you said there, ian, you're to clarify what you said there, ian, you' re pretty to clarify what you said there, ian, you're pretty sure you heard two are you? initially, yes. there was a pairof you? initially, yes. there was a pair of shots together, and i thought that was the end of the

incident and went to have a look. there was a further eight or ten after, which sounded as though they we re after, which sounded as though they were from a different weapon, which may be consistent with what people have said about the shots on the lorry crossed the bridge. ok. what was the reaction of people in the area at the time? it was very different. initially people were standing around, thinking, we could hear what seem to be policeman shouting at people that were involved in a bit of a fracas, so it sounded like it was a bit of a site, and then it looked as though some people were being evacuated a bit more urgently and people started running in big groups down the footpath towards us. so we were standing almost directly under the bridge for quite some time but then we moved on. police, we may be 150 yards away now, so it has become clear as time has passed that it is more serious than people initially

thought. ok, ian, really good to talk to you. let us know if you hear anything else. in the meantime, let's talk to luke poulton. his building is under lockdown and i think you have a bird's eye view of the situation, is that right? yes, i can see the whole bridge. so tell us what you can see at the moment first of all. i can see the whole bridge and at one side of the bridge there is probably around 30 police cars, and on the other side there is undercover police cars that have turned up with a lot of equipment. i think they are checking vehicles at the moment to see what's going on. that is the scene as you described at the moment. i appreciate you weren't standing by your window looking out, but i wonder if you had anything around 2pm this afternoon?

someone from my work had gone out, they were about to go out for lunch and were told they weren't allowed to leave the building because there was a possible shooting on the bridge, and then just after that, was a possible shooting on the bridge, and thenjust after that, we had four gunshots and then saw eve ryo ne had four gunshots and then saw everyone running across the bridge. so you heard four gunshots, did you? yes. right, ok, then what happened? after that, or the police and started checking the lorries, the police started checking that. and from what you could see, where police are able to clear the bridge very quickly? they cleared everyone, because there was everyone on buses and they made sure everyone got off buses and out of their vehicles as quick as possible. how come where people, because i imagine if you were to suddenly told to evacuate a bus, it would be quite scary? you could tell a lot of people were panicking, probably about 100 people

just running across the bridge, and hearing those shots. you are in a building overlooking those bridge —— the bridge, have you been told by the bridge, have you been told by the authorities whether you can leave or not? our whole building is in lockdown, we are not allowed to leave the building currently. have you any indication as to how long that might last? we haven't been told, we keep getting e—mails and updated and we are currently on lockdown until the police have left the bridge. but as you are looking at the scene at the moment, nothing is moving anytime soon. nothing at the moment, just the police checking vehicles and going across the bridge and looking around. thanks so much for your time. ijust and looking around. thanks so much for your time. i just want to update people with what is happening in case you are just people with what is happening in case you arejustjoining people with what is happening in case you are justjoining us on people with what is happening in case you arejustjoining us on bbc news. a man has been detained by police and a number of people have been injured following a stabbing near london bridge. andy moore, our

correspondent, is still with us. what can you tell us? police have confirmed that this incident happened at 1:58pm. they say there was a stabbing. they say a number of people have been injured and a man has been detained. the fact he has been detained suggest perhaps he is alive but we don't know for sure. i have been looking at some video taken when the man was shot very close by. it confirms what we heard from john, that they appear to be some sort of fight. in this video, which i'm sure we will bring you later on, you see a man dressed in black on the ground. he is surrounded by police officers, one of them is standing over him with a taser. another man in civilian clothes is fighting with him. we don't know whether he is a plainclothes police officer or whether he is a member of the public trying to intervene. but he is fighting, struggling with the

assailant, and then the armed police officers moved in and haul off, dragged off the man who is fighting we believe the assailant, and then the are fired. so it seems as though somebody was fighting with the assailant, the man who was carrying out the stabbing before the armed police moved in. stay with us, andy, if you would. let's recap on our main story this afternoon. the metropolitan police say a man has been detained and a number of people injured after a stabbing at london bridge in the heart of the capital. london ambulance service has declared a major incident. a bbc reporter at the scene said he saw a struggle between a group of men and heard shots being fired. the bridge has been sealed off and members of the public are being directed away from the area. emergency services are at the area. emergency services are at the scene. we can show you some of the scene. we can show you some of the latest