The prime minister will hold an emergency Cobra meeting today following the terror attack in Liverpool.
Boris Johnson will convene the meeting with security chiefs at 12.45pm to discuss the explosion outside Liverpool Women’s Hospital on Remembrance Sunday.
The PM’s spokesman said his thoughts “remain with all those affected by the awful incident” as he thanked the emergency services for their quick response.
It comes after a taxi exploded just before 11am at a drop-off zone near the hospital entrance, killing the passenger and injuring the driver.
Cab driver David Perry has been hailed a hero after he apparently locked the taxi doors just before the bomb went off inside his car.
Johnson said earlier today: “This is an ongoing investigation so I can’t comment on the details or exactly what type of incident it was, what type of crime it may have been.
“But it does look as though the taxi driver in question did behave with incredible presence of mind and bravery.”
The city’s mayor Joanne Anderson told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The taxi driver, in his heroic efforts, has managed to divert what could have been an absolutely awful disaster at the hospital.”
The explosion has been declared a terrorist attack but police said the motive is unclear.
Assistant Chief Constable Russ Jackson from Counter-Terrorism North West said the man who died in the blast brought a homemade bomb with him into a taxi and asked to be taken to Liverpool Women’s Hospital.
Four men have been arrested under terrorism laws in the Kensington area of Liverpool – three aged 21, 26 and 29 who were held on Sunday and a man aged 20 who was detained on Monday.