An intruder to the Houses of Parliament was arrested on Wednesday after breaking in at the same entrance as the terrorist who killed PC Keith Palmer.

       Armed police locked down the Carriage Gates entrance to the Palace of Westminster after a man was spotted in New Palace Yard, inside parliament's secure compound.

       The man was pinned down by police and arrested. Officers trained weapons on him as he was detained.

       The man, wearing ripped jeans and trainers, was later led away by police, while calling for a lawyer and claiming he had been “sexually assaulted by 50 guys”.

       A parliamentary security officer at the scene speculated that the man had climbed over a fence, but denied initial reports that he had entered the parliamentary estate on a bicycle.

       The gate was also used by Khalid Masood, the Westminster Bridge attacker who killed PC Keith Palmer in 2017.

       A memorial to PC Palmer stands metres from the site of Wednesday’s incident.

       A Metropolitan Police spokesman said that “enquiries into the circumstances continue”.

       One witness said the Carriage Gates, which are used for vehicular access, were a “soft underbelly” of Parliament that should be reinforced to keep staff safe.

       Elliot Keck, who works for the Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell, told The Telegraph the gates were “one of the weakest in terms of security”.

       “I suppose maybe they do need to think about possibly reinforcing that entrance,” he said. “Maybe the gates could be half a metre higher.”