Neighbour of Khalid Masood 'cannot believe he could do something like this'

Searches are continuing at a flat and a house in Birmingham following police raids linked to the Westminster terror attack.

Neighbour of Khalid Masood 'cannot believe he could do something like this'

Searches are continuing at a flat and a house in Birmingham following police raids linked to the Westminster terror attack.

After residents described the frightening moment when armed police stormed a second-floor flat in city's Hagley Road overnight, it emerged officers are also examining a three-storey townhouse in nearby Winson Green.

Car rental firm Enterprise confirmed the Hyundai 4x4 used in the attack was rented in Spring Hill, Birmingham, less than a mile from the house being searched.

In a statement, the car hire company said one of its employees had identified the vehicle after seeing the licence plate in an image online and the firm had immediately contacted the authorities.

The firm said in a statement: "We are co-operating fully with the authorities and will provide any assistance that we can to the investigation.

"Our thoughts are very much with the victims of this terrible tragedy."

Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Police named the attacker as Khalid Masood, 52, who was born in Kent and is believed to have most recently lived in the West Midlands.

At a house being searched in the city, his former neighbour Iwona Romek, said she could not believe her eyes when she realised the man who had lived near her was the same person responsible for the attack.

She said: "I am very surprised, I cannot believe it.

"Because when I saw him, I couldn't even see that he could do something like this.

"Now I'm scared that someone like that was living close to me."

She added: "I see pictures of him lying injured and from that picture I can see it's him.

"And my partner as well he has seen the picture, he is at work, and when I showed it him he said 'oh my God' it's him."

Ms Romek said she had seen him with a child, aged between five and six years old, and a partner but that they had moved away around two to three months ago.

Other residents, elsewhere in Birmingham, told how more than a dozen black-clad officers equipped with machine guns smashed their way in to the Birmingham flat, believed to be a rental property, at about 11pm on Wednesday.

The Met have confirmed the raid was part of a wider operation in which several addresses were searched and eight arrests made.

One witness who works in a shop near the second-floor Birmingham flat told the Press Association: "The man from London lived here."

He added "They came and arrested three men."

Stuart Bailey, who lives four doors down, was going for a drink with his friend when an armed officer shouted for him to "go left".

The 25-year-old added: "There were a load of armed police in the street and on the pavement and I could see three or four in front of me.

"They were all dressed in black and armed with what looked like MP5s (submachine guns) and one of them had six ammunition magazines strapped to his leg.

"I wasn't allowed back in my property for an hour."

A shopkeeper said police had told customers and staff to stay inside the store while the operation continued.

The road was sealed off by officers for several hours as the raid was carried out, although the busy main road into the city has since reopened.

Another man who lives in the neighbouring flats said he recalled two men living at the raided flat.

He heard one man in the flat speaking on the phone in what he described as an "Arabic or Pakistani accent", saying he had heard it "for the last two or three nights".

He added: "There were armed police and some important-looking guys in suits as well.

"They had tools and they were trying to break the doors down, trying to force themselves in. We were basically staying in our house, we didn't know what was happening."

Meanwhile, there was also a significant police presence at the townhouse two miles across the city in Winson Green.

Officers, thought to have arrived at 11pm, have remained at the address during the day and fingertip searches of the front garden have also been taking place.

A female neighbour, who declined to be named, said a man had moved in to the house opposite and stayed until December.

She said: "The previous guy who lived there was a black guy, with two kids.

"He was there one day and then gone the next."

She added: "If this is linked to the attack in London, it's definitely a shock. It's scary to think what can happen on your doorstep."

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