SIX people have been injured after a vehicle hit pedestrians outside a sports centre.

Hundreds of people were attending an event to celebrate Eid near the Westgate Sports Centre in Newcastle when a woman lost control of her car and ploughed into the crowd.

Northumbria Police say the incident is not believed to be a terror attack and have arrested a 42-year-old woman. 

It happened at about 9.14am, when a car mounted the pavement in Westgate Road. 

Three adults and three children have been taken to hospital.

Two of the children are now in Paediatric Intensive Care and one adult is in the Trauma High Dependency Unit.

The remaining injured are believed to have serious but not life threatening injuries.

Assistant Chief Constable Darren Best said: “At approximately 9.14am we received reports that a car had collided with pedestrians outside of Westgate Sports Centre, in Newcastle City Centre.

"At that time a large number of people were in the area celebrating the religious festival Eid that is held to mark the end of Ramadan.

"What we have established is that a 42-year-old female has been celebrating Eid with her family, she then got into her car and has collided with six people in the crowd.

"We have no information to suggest this is terror-related, however, this is a serious collision with multiple casualties and extensive enquires are on-going to establish the circumstances around this tragic incident.

"The six people injured, three of which are children, have been taken to hospital.

"As it currently stands two of the children are now in Paediatric Intensive Care and one adult is in the Trauma High Dependency Unit. The remaining injured are believed to have serious but not life threatening injuries.

"We want to reassure the public that extra officers are on patrol around our communities to answer questions and any concerns they might have.

"We have specially trained family liaison officers working with the families affected to make sure they are constantly supported and informed throughout this difficult time."

Newcastle Central Mosque has thanked the emergency services for their response.

A statement said: "Immediately after the Eid prayers when the people were starting to leave the venue, a car collided with pedestrians.

"The injured were immediately attended to by the emergency medical services and the police. All the injured have been taken to the hospital. We pray and hope that all those affected recover soon fully.

"We thank the emergency medical services, the police and over 100 volunteers from the mosque for their quick response to the incident.

"We were able to clear the area promptly ensuring there was no delay in the injured being attended to.

"We urge everyone to please pray for all those affected."

The North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) says it has taken three adults and three children to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Newcastle. 

Police enquiries are on-going to establish exactly what happened.

A NEAS spokesman said six ambulances, two rapid response paramedic cars, an air ambulance, three senior officers, four hazardous area response team crews and two paramedic trauma cars were sent to the scene. 

Any witnesses or anyone with any information please contact Northumbria Police on 101 quoting reference number 277 25/06/17