Westminster attacker named as Khalid Masood, aged 52

The man responsible for an attack near the UK parliament on Wednesday has been identified by British police as 52-year-old Khalid Masood.

Masood, who was born in Kent in south-east England, was known by "a number of aliases" and had been living in the West Midlands, including Birmingham.

At least eight people were arrested in relation to the attack following major police raids across London and Birmingham on Thursday.

Masood had been previously arrested for assault, possession of offensive weapons and public order offences, but was not subject to an open investigation.

He was a teacher and body builder, according to Sky News, and a father of three.

"There was no prior intelligence about his intent to mount a terrorist attack," the police said.

Masood was first conviction was in November 1983 for criminal damage and his last was in December 2003 for possession of a knife.

Car rental company Enterprise said that the car used in the attack was rented from their Birmingham collect service.

"[It was] used in the tragic attack in London yesterday afternoon was one of ours," the company said in a statement.

An Enterprise employee identified the vehicle after seeing the license plate in an image online.