An attacker drove a vehicle into a number of people on the Westminster Bridge, before the car crashed outside the Houses of Parliament. 

The man got out of the vehicle and ran through the parliament gates, before stabbing an unarmed police officer.

He was shot by police and has since died from his injuries.

As of Thursday morning, Australian time, five people have died from the attacker’s actions.

Mudgee’s Courtney Uryszek is currently in London and said her housemate was meant to work in the heart of Westminster on the day of the attack.

“His shift got cancelled, so he's very lucky.

“We are all a bit scared to catch the Tube now, there will be a lot of panic in London for the next few months after this,” she said.

Mudgee’s Maree Fekkes is living 30 minutes from London but decided to mark herself as safe on Facebook, to give her family and friends peace of mind.

“I also found out about the attack via Facebook, when all my friends in London starting marking themselves as safe using the 'Safety Check' tool.

“I was only at Westminster last week, it's crawling with tourists and school groups everyday of the week and there is really no indication that something like this would happen.

“There is a very high police presence in London at all major tourist points, which means they are able to act quickly in the event of something like this happening though, which is both concerning when you think that we live in a world that you aren't really safe anywhere and comforting to know they are ready for any sort of attack,” she said.

Another Mudgee resident, Katherine Foote said she was only 1 km away from the attack when it happened, describing the situation as “scary”.