Shots fired during London anti-terror operations

One man held in west London and two more arrested near Tower of London after police fire at vehicle

Special ammunition designed to breach doors or burst tyres was fired at a car during a series of anti-terror raids across the capital.

Police fired Hatton rounds – large shotgun ammunition used to stop vehicles – at a car on Mansell Street, close to the Tower of London, on Sunday night.

Two men, both aged 25, were arrested in the street, while a 28-year-old man was arrested in Westbourne Grove, west London, and a 29-year-old was detained in Peckham Street, south-east London.

All the men have been arrested on the suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism, Scotland Yard said, and are being quizzed at a south London police station.

As six addresses across London continue to be searched by counter-terror officers, further reports from people who witnessed the arrests emerged.

Ramin Massodi, a worker at a Persian restaurant in Westbourne Grove, said the man arrested there had been swooped on by specialist officers in several cars who pushed him up against the glass of the restaurant.

"I heard shouting, then I looked outside and saw four cars … and they grabbed him," he said.

Neighbour George Paul, who lived across the street from the restaurant, said he was sitting in his flat when he heard the commotion outside.

"I poked my head out the window – it was dark – but I could clearly see at least three cars," he said.

"They were stopping traffic in all directions. There were two policemen on top of a guy, pinning him down and from what I may have heard, the assailant said in maybe a foreign accent, 'please don't break my arm'."

Paul said officers then cuffed the man and pressed him against the restaurant wall.

He said he thought about coming out to investigate further but decided against it because of how serious the situation seemed.

Paul, who has lived in the area for 30 years, said he had never seen anything like it before.

"This is one of the best policed areas, there's two policemen walking around every 15 minutes," he said.

"It's a very safe area so this is a surprise, it's a shock basically."

The street where the man was arrested in Notting Hill is lined with restaurants and boutiques.

A restaurant owner, who did not want to be named, said the incident closed down most of the street and cost him a significant amount of business.