WYRE Forest MP Mark Garnier has told the Shuttle of how he was caught up in the tragedy in Westminster as Parliament went into lockdown during yesterday's terror attack.  

Four people died during the incident yesterday (March 22) when a car was driven into pedestrians before crashing into railings at the Palace of Westminster.

A policeman was stabbed to death before the attacker was shot dead by armed officers.

Wyre Forest MP Mark Garnier, who was in the chamber voting at the time of the incident, was put on lockdown as police dealt with the aftermath outside.

Mr Garnier's staff were all together in a central room in the Palace, also on lockdown. 

Mr Garnier said: "It is all just sinking in.

"We were all voting at the time and when we started to hear what was happening I went into the corridor to call my staff - ironically all my staff from both Kidderminster and London were together for an annual catch up and I had just left them 20 years from where the shooting took place.

"The chamber was shut down and locked in, so being outside the chamber, I went to the team room with other MPs to watch television and find out what was going on.

"After about 20 minutes there was a loud banging on the door and half a dozen heavily armed security personnel came in to evacuate us.

"We were moved to Speaker's Court - an open space within the palace under Big Ben - where we gathered with visitor groups - including two primary schools - and other staff.

"After some time, we went to Westminster Hall and then onto Westminster Abbey where we waited until around 8pm.

"It was all very strange.

"Like most people, we were getting information from Twitter, news wires and the like so it was simply a question of waiting.

"There was a bit of a blitz spirt in the Abbey, with the staff making tea for us all - around 1,000 people."

He added: "I have to say, I was stunned by the professionalism of the security services and ambulance crews.

"There are around 5,000 people in the estate at any given time and they did an incredible job protecting us all and getting us to safety.

"It was only later that we started to learn about the tragedy outside and how people had been hurt and killed.

"Again, people from St Thomas’s went out to help as soon as the attack started to.

"It is amazing just how brave so many people are.

"Whilst we are fleeing from danger, police, paramedics and all sorts of other emergency services are running towards it.

"In the face of horror, this showed just how strong decent people really are."