AN EDEN couple have spoken of their shock at coming face to face with the knife-wielding terrorist who brought shock to London on Wednesday afternoon.

Jennie and Steve Allison, owners of Low Howgill Butchery and Deli in Appleby, were in Westminster for an awards ceremony and saw attacker Khalid Masood run towards them moments before he murdered police officer Keith Palmer.

The 52-year-old former tutor, from the West Midlands, mowed down pedestrians on Westminster Bridge before stabbing Mr Palmer, a father and husband, before being shot by armed police.

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The Appleby couple had been enjoying a tour of the House of Lords and Parliament with a representative of Border MP Rory Stewart when the atrocities unfolded.

Mrs Allison, 30, described the moment the attack played out.

“Rory Stewart’s aide took us round the Commons and Parliament and we then went through Westminster Hall so we could get a photo beneath Big Ben. That’s when I saw a man with a knife running towards us.

“We turned around and went back in and that’s when we heard gunshots.

“I said: ‘Oh god, there’s a man with a knife’ and as soon as I said those words all the armed police just swarmed the place.

“We just thought ‘let’s get out of here’ so we got to somewhere safe. Once we were inside and safe we phoned all the family to let them know we were okay.”

The couple were in fact ushered into the office of Hull MP Andrew Percy, who had them sit on the floor in the dark to wait out the attack.

Mrs Allison believes she and her husband, 43, were lucky to be in the position they were in despite their proximity to Masood, who is responsible for the deaths of four people. Many more were left injured.

“We were probably in one of the best places to be,” she said. “Those poor people on the bridge had nowhere to go and nowhere to escape.

“Where we were we were quite happy once we got inside, we thought it was highly unlikely anyone would find us in there.”