Eyewitnesses describe scene as car ploughs into crowds at Liverpool FC Premier League victory parade

Merseyside Police said the suspect was white, British and from the Liverpool area.

The Prime Minister described "appalling" scenes as witnesses described a people carrier ploughing into crowds of people who had been celebrating in the city centre.

The crowds tried to stop the driver who was detained by police.

Emergency services were quickly at the scene and several casualties were seen being taken away by ambulances.

In a statement, Sir Keir Starmer said: "The scenes in Liverpool are appalling - my thoughts are with all those injured or affected."

Harry Rashid, 48, from Solihull, was at the parade with his wife and two young daughters when he witnessed the collision.

He said: “It happened about 10 feet away from us. We were just in a crowd and we had no control over where we would be, because it was a very narrow street.

“The vehicle came to our right. It emerged from just right next to an ambulance, which was parked up. This grey people carrier just pulled up from the right and just rammed into all the people at the side of us.

“It was travelling south, down Water Street, straight towards the Strand, which is where the docks are.

“It was extremely fast. Initially, we just heard the pop, pop, pop of people just being knocked off the bonnet of a car.

Mr Rashid described how crowds began trying to smash the car windows: “Then he stalled for a few seconds, probably about 10 seconds. Then the crowd that was a bit further back started rushing at him trying to smash his windows.

“But then he put his foot down again and just ploughed through the rest of them, he just kept going.

“It was horrible. And you could hear the bumps as he was going over the people.

“Then my daughter started screaming and there were people on the ground.

“It looked clearly deliberate.

“They were just innocent people, just fans going to enjoy the parade. There were hundreds and thousands of us there because this is probably the busiest part of Liverpool.”

“We were shocked, couldn’t believe it.”

Emergency services arrived at the scene “within seconds”, he said.

Mr Rashid said: “Ambulances were already there. There was one right next to where this occurred, so there was a paramedic inside there.

“But then they started arriving within seconds, they’re all trying to get to the crowd and negotiate the crowd, which is very difficult to do, you see, because there’s that many people, they constantly been trying to move.

“I just wanted my kids to get off the road regardless because I couldn’t trust whether there’s a follow up attack or something like that. Because you are just exposed there on the pavement.

“I saw people lying on the ground, people unconscious.

“It was horrendous. So horrendous.”

Matt Cole, a BBC reporter who attended the parade with his family, witnessed the incident.

He told BBC News: “I was there with my family. We had just moments before watched fireworks going off and celebrations, the Liverpool bus passing us on the Strand.

“There were screams ahead of us and suddenly this dark blue car just came through the crowd.

“It just wasn’t stopping. I managed to grab my daughter who was with me and jump out of the way.

“It missed myself and my family by literally inches. We then turned and watched what happened momentarily behind us before running.

“It was being chased by a group of men who were trying to bang on the side of it and throw things at it.

“The back of the rear windshield had been completely smashed in, but it just had no intention of stopping.

“At that point, we and others dived into a side street and then once I was sure my family were safe, I looked back to see people sitting on the ground surrounded by people.

“Police came running from all over, ambulances, police vans, as we moved away through those crowds.

“An entire squad of armed police cars stopped, and people jumped out with rifles and again big medical packs on and began running to the scene of the incident.”

Witness Natasha Rinaldi, who was watching the parade from her friend’s living room, told Sky News: “It was so loud. People sounded desperate.

“And then we looked out the window and we saw the car (had) run over people.

“Then people started rushing to go after the driver and they tried to break the car. The police did everything to block and to push people away.

“We could just hear screams and screams. We were very confused.

“Some of my friends were down there and the car was so near them. It was a horrible scene, nobody was expecting it.”

She said “people had stopped the car” and were knocking on the window “and trying to speak to the driver”.

“People were very angry and shocked, and then the police intervened. And then we heard the ambulances coming.”

Daniel Jones, 28, told the Sun: “A lot of people were evidently really angry. They were smashing [the car] up. Police were trying to restrain them.

“The back of the window was completely smashed. Everyone was just jumping onto that car, trying to jump on that car because officers were trying to restrain them.

“They were ripping the register plate off. The back window was broken when the [driver] was still in it.”