London:

British police arrested a man on suspicion of trespassing on Wednesday after allegedly breaching security in Parliament and causing a temporary lockdown of the sensitive London landmark.

It came amid heightened security in the UK after lawmaker David Amess was stabbed to death while meeting with voters in October and a failed homemade bomb attack last month.

The Metropolitan Police Service was quick to note that Wednesday’s arrest in the heart of Westminster was not being treated as “a terrorist incident”.

The force said the man was held at the main gates of Parliament around 3:00 p.m. (3:00 p.m. GMT), without providing further details.

“A man has been detained and arrested at Carriage Gates inside the Palace of Westminster on suspicion of entering a protected site,” the Met said in a statement.

“Investigations into the circumstances are continuing. This is not being treated as a terrorist incident.”

Home Secretary Priti Patel said in October that the level of terrorist threat to lawmakers rose from “moderate” to “substantial” after Amess’ death, although there was no “threat” credible or specific “.

The overall level of terrorist threat in the UK was raised to “serious” after an explosion outside a hospital in Liverpool, north-west England, in November.

Both incidents have been linked by the police to extremism.

The scene of Wednesday’s arrest was the scene of a deadly terrorist attack in 2017, when a police officer was killed in a rampage that began on nearby Westminster Bridge.

Eyewitnesses to the latest incident said officers reacted quickly to the alleged incursion.

“I just saw someone step into Parliament,” Elliot Keck, who identified himself as a parliamentary staff member, said on Twitter alongside a photo of armed officers standing over an individual on the ground.

“Taser fast and weapons immediately drawn. Impressive performance of the police,” he added.

(This story was not edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)