Christmas horror: Driver arrested after four people hit by car in London, Australians injured in New York

Cars driven into Christmas crowds have injured a total of 11 pedestrians in separate incidents in London and New York.

In London, a man is being questioned by police on suspicion of attempted murder after four pedestrians were hit by a car in the West End theatre district on Christmas Day.

The Metropolitan Police said officers were called at 0.45am on Wednesday following reports of a collision and a car driving on the wrong side of the road on Shaftesbury Avenue in the capital’s theatre district.

Four pedestrians were taken to hospital, with one left in a life-threatening condition, police said.

The driver, a 31-year-old man, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.

Police said they believed the suspect was “involved in an altercation at a nightclub prior to getting in his car and mounting the pavement”.

They added that it had “been confirmed as an isolated incident which is not terror-related”.

Forensic officers could be seen on Wednesday bagging up shoes and other items of clothing from the pavement.

Meanwhile, seven people were injured in New York City on Christmas Day when a taxi jumped a sidewalk and hit pedestrians outside a Macy’s department store.

Police say the cab driver had suffered a medical episode.

The Midtown Manhattan store, with its elaborately decorated display windows, is a magnet for tourists and native New Yorkers around the holidays.

In addition to the 58-year-old taxi driver, the injured included a 9-year-old boy, two women aged 49 and three other women aged 19, 37 and 41, police added.

NBC New York cited law enforcement sources as saying that the boy and his mother who were both wounded were visiting New York City from Australia.

A probe into the crash is ongoing.