A man with mental health problems was found running close to a synagogue holding knives in Colindale.

The Met Police began receiving phone calls from 11.21am on Saturday about a man running through the Bell Lane and Brent Street, walking down the side of one of a synagogue.

The Community Security Trust team were on the scene to secure the local synagogues and eventually barricaded the man into a launderette.

The man, who was naked from the waist up and not wearing shoes or socks, was sectioned under the Mental Health Act and taken to a nearby hospital.

Chief Superintendent Simon Rose said: "Knowing what we know now and in confirmation of what has been already briefed by the CST. This was not an anti-Semitic attack. This was not a terrorist incident.

"The suspect did not attempt to force entry to a synagogue. He was a mentally ill man who was subsequently sectioned."

At 11.30am a Tazer unit came to the scene, nine minutes after the call had been made to the police, after which two other police cars and a firearms response car arrived.

Ch Supt Rose said he had thanked the first responder from the CST team for their work, and has debriefed senior members of organisations such as the Shomrim and Barnet Council.

He continued: "Whilst we hope it will never happen for real we are now even better prepared."