It is “extremely fortunate” no-one died after a car hit a group of worshippers outside a mosque in an apparent anti-Muslim attack, a senior officer has said.

Three people were struck by the vehicle outside the Al-Majlis Al-Hussaini Islamic centre in Cricklewood, north-west London, following a late-night lecture.

Two men in their 20s suffered minor injuries and a man in his 50s is in hospital with a serious leg injury, Scotland Yard said.

Mosque incident
(PA Graphics)

The occupants of the car hurled anti-Muslim insults and abuse before driving at a group leaving the Islamic centre on Oxgate Lane, by Edgware Road, at around 12.30am on Wednesday, Scotland Yard said.

The occupants, three men and a woman in their mid-20s, confronted worshippers after being told to leave a private car park by security some minutes earlier.

They are said to have been drinking, taking drugs, and behaving antisocially.

Mosque incident
The Hussaini Association in Oxgate Lane, Cricklewood (John Stillwell/PA)

Metropolitan Police Chief Superintendent Simon Rose said: “The people who had been challenged then drove at members of the community in a car.

“The car mounted the pavement twice. The vehicle then drove off and was involved in a fail-to-stop accident.

“We were extremely fortunate there was no loss of life.

“It is being dealt with as an Islamophobic hate crime and it is being dealt with as a racist hate crime.”

Detectives are analysing CCTV in a bid to trace the driver and the incident is not currently being treated as terror matter, the Metropolitan Police said.

The mosque said a red Nissan Juke was “hurtling down” the road and mounted the pavement before swerving into bystanders who were “indiscriminately mown down”.

Al Balaghi, of the Al Hussaini Association, which organised the lecture, wished the victims a “speedy recovery”.

He said: “We request all members of the public to stay calm and not to fuel any retaliation.

“We can only extend our prayers to the families and the victims.”

No arrests have been made.