An imam prevented a mob attack on the suspected terrorist van driver who just minutes earlier had mowed down Muslim worshippers at a mosque.

He said, as some locals treated the injured, others tried to punch and kick the attacker.

Mohammed Mahmoud said: "We arrived at the incident within minutes. We found the assailant on the floor.

"He had been restrained by about three people. The injured and the deceased's brother were being tended to.

"We found a group of people quickly started to collect around the assailant.

"Some tried to hit and punch and kick him.

"By God's grace we managed to surround him and protect him from any harm."

The imam said two men, who he described as brothers, helped prevent a vigilante attack as passions ran high and said they "extinguished any flames of mob rule".

He said a passing police van was the first on the scene.

Mr Mahmoud said: "There was a mob attempt to hurt him, so we pushed pushed people away from him until he was safely taken by police."

Witness Hussain Ali added the suspect was smiling and waving as he brought carnage to Seven Sisters Road in Finsbury Park, north London.

The imam was hailed as the "hero of the day" by Toufik Kacimi, chief executive of the Muslim Welfare House, outside which the attack took place.