Bay of Plenty people living in London are shocked by today's terror attack in which a man drove a car through pedestrians on Westminster Bridge and attacked them with knives outside parliament.
Former Brookfield New World employee Amber Hunter was working as a nanny when she heard the news at 4.30pm local time.
"A relative messaged me asking if I was okay and said it was such a horrible thing to hear about. I had no knowledge of it at this point so I looked on Facebook and immediately turned on the news."
The reports "terrified" her.
"I mean you know in the back of your mind that it's going to happen one day after all the previous attacks on other European countries. My first thought was I really hope it's none of our Kiwis or Aussies.
"We really are like a big antipodean family.
"My Nana [who lives in Tauranga] tried to talk me out of even moving over here as I booked my flights around the time of the Paris attacks so I can only imagine she would've flipped when she heard this today.
"I love London, I never want to leave. I've never felt scared here. It's all about being street smart and paying attention when on the streets. I always follow my gut and it's not feeling uneasy today."
Drummer Nick Mabey of Tauranga was at work when a colleague told him the news.
"My reaction was concern for friends until I discovered the contained nature of the situation.
"By virtue of London being London, we will always be exposed to things like this. My mother contacted me in panic, but I think the reaction to the event is more symbolic of unrest than the reaction to the consequences. Basically I'm saying it's not that big of a deal here."
Bay of Plenty woman Helene Anderson said that a terror attack in her adopted city was inevitable and probably overdue.
She was reassured to see police and emergency services swing in to action quickly and efficiently.
"It's sad that this is one of the risks of living in a major city anywhere in the world right now," she said. "I'm due to travel through that area on Friday - no doubt I will feel a little nervous, maybe as much of the massive weapons the police in the streets are carrying as the risk of another attack."
Rotorua woman Astrid de Jong was at her workplace in Chelsea, a 25-minute walk from the attacks, when she heard the news.
"Of course it was very terrifying to hear and my first reaction was to check if my friends and colleagues were away from the attack and safe.
"The fact London has been marked as an area of 'critical risk of a terror attack' is something you can't ignore, and today's attack brought that closer to home for sure.
"However, I do feel safe living in London. Attacks can happen anywhere in the world and I guess you can't live in fear of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"I have a lot of faith in the safety and security in London. The police's fantastic efforts today really gives Londoners confidence that our city is safe.
"[My family] worry of course, I have received lots of messages from friends and family checking if I am safe. It's in times like these we can really thank technology and how easy it is to communicate with our loved ones back home."