Home Secretary tells of 'terrible injuries'

He said: "There have been a number of dreadful incidents across London today.

"The Cabinet has been kept informed of the situation, as has the Prime Minister at Gleneagles.

"I chaired a meeting of our Cobra senior ministers' committee earlier on today to assess the situation and take what immediate action needs to be taken.

"As far as the police are concerned, they are in operational command and dealing with the situation in accordance with very well established procedures in an extremely professional way.

"Health services are in support to deal with the terrible injuries that there have been and I want to express sympathy on behalf of the Government to the family and friends of those who have been injured.

"Underground services have been suspended and we advise people not to make unnecessary journeys in London at this stage in order to help the police and other emergency services deal with the current situation."

He said he would update the House of Commons later today and added: " Throughout all of this and the terrible situation that there is we will be updating the public very directly at regular intervals with the most up to date information that we have."