SOUNDS similar to gunfire have been heard close to the Palace of Westminster, it has been reported.

Two people have been seen lying within Old Palace Yard, immediately outside Westminster Hall.

A man with a knife has been seen within the confines of the Palace, eyewitnesses said.

The sitting in the House of Commons has been suspended while police sealed off the area around the incident.

Scotland Yard said it was called to a firearms incident on Westminster Bridge amid reports of several people injured.

North Swindon MP Justin Tomlinson is safe, he was with colleagues in the Commons chamber in the middle of a vote when the incident happened.

He confirmed the building and the chamber have been locked down but says that much like the rest of us, MPs are still not exactly clear about what has occurred.

They too are reaching for twitter to the latest from the media.

The BBC are reporting that the Prime Minister herself was in the division lobby when she was approached by a plain clothed police officer and lead quickly away.

The leader of the House of Commons, David Lidington MP, told MPs: “The alleged assailant was shot by armed police. An air ambulance is currently attending the scene to remove the casualties.

“There are also reports of further violent incidents in the vicinity of the Palace of Westminster but I hope colleagues on all sides will appreciate that it would be wrong of me to go into further details here until we have confirmation from the police and from the House security authorities about what is going on.

“At the moment the very clear advice from the police is that we should remain in suspension and that the chamber should remain in lockdown until we get advice that it is safe to go back to normal procedures.”

More follows