Three policemen have been stabbed and a fourth wounded after a man went berserk with a knife in Kingsbury this morning (Saturday).

The officers were attacked after they were called to disturbance near a butcher’s shop in Kingsbury Road at 8.40am.

The man also attacked a fourth officer who was not stabbed.

Three are thought to have been stabbed while the other suffered a hand injury in circumstances not yet confirmed.

All four have been taken to hospital.

A man is in custody after being arrested for attempted murder.

A large area around Kingsbury has been cordoned off to allow forensic officers to comb the area.

Reports suggest the wounded officers were not local Brent constabulary, but were based in Harrow.

The incident is believed to have happened at the Kingsbury Halal Butchers just 100 yards from Kingsbury Tube station and in a busy shopping street.

Further down on the other side of the roundabout Ketan Vyas, the manager of the VB and Sons cash-and-carry store, described how a man aged 30-40 had burst into his shop chased by police.

He went on: “He picked up some cans of beans and threw them at the police and then carried on running out of the store and down the road.

“There were a lot of police after him. He was only in here for a few seconds. Fortunately no staff were harmed.”

A worker at a Carphone Warehouse store opposite the butcher’s said: “After the incident I saw about eight police officers on top of a man. Ambulances arrived to take away the injured policemen and the man was also taken away.”

The area around the butcher’s was cordoned off but the Tube station was running normally.

A Met spokesman said: “Police were called at approximately 8.40 this morning to a disturbance in Kingsbury Road, Kingsbury.

“Officers attended and attempted to speak with a man, who subsequently attacked them.

“Four officers were injured during the incident and have been taken to hospital.

“A man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and remains in custody at a north London police station.”

A spokeswoman for London Ambulance Service said they took five patients to hospital, all conscious and breathing.

She said: “We were called at 8.50am this morning to an incident in Kingsbury Road.

“We sent two single responders in cars, four ambulance crews and a duty officer.

“We treated five patients, they were all conscious and breathing, and they were taken to hospital.”

Cllr Lincoln Beswick, Brent Council lead member for crime and community safety, said: “This is devastating.

“This demonstrates that police are putting their lives in danger to protect the community.

“Our sympathies are with the officers, their families and their colleagues.”