TWO people were killed and four hospitalised by a terrorist attack outside a Manchester synagogue today before the attacker was shot dead by police.

A man wielding a knife and wearing a device resembling a bomb vest rammed a car through the gates of Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue and began attacking families gathering for Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.

The suspect was fatally shot seven minutes after police were called to the scene at 9.31am.

Counter-terrorism police said that two people have been arrested and the identity of the suspect would not be disclosed because of “safety reasons at the scene.”

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who returned early from Denmark to chair a Cobra meeting, said that “additional police assets” will be deployed at synagogues across the country following the attack that left two members of the Jewish community dead.

Eyewitness Chava Lewin, who lives next door to the synagogue, said: “I was outside and heard a banging sound and I thought it might be a firework.

“My husband went outside and then ran back inside and said: ‘There’s been a terrorist attack.’

“I spoke to someone who saw a car driving erratically and [crash] into the [synagogue].

“She thought maybe he had a heart attack. The second he got out of the car he started stabbing anyone near him. He went for the security guard and tried to break into the synagogue. He was in the courtyard.

“Someone barricaded the door. Everyone is in utter shock.”

A delivery driver meanwhile described seeing a man “stabbing the window” and “trying to get into” the synagogue.

He got closer and saw an unconscious man in a pool of blood on the floor and another a man laid out in front of a car.

“Somebody shouted ‘he’s in the school or the synagogue’,” he said.

“And then, as we looked over, the guy had a knife, and he was just stabbing the window trying to get in.”

“And then within seconds the police arrived. They gave him a couple of warnings. He didn’t listen, so they opened fire.

“He went down on the floor, and then he started getting back up, and then they shot him again.”

Faith leaders warned that violence in the Middle East is spilling on to British streets as they roundly condemned the attack.

Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell, currently the Church of England’s most senior bishop, said that he was praying that “all may live alongside each other in harmony and respect.”

Imam Qari Asim, co-chairman of the British Muslim Network, said: “We cannot ignore the growing tide of religious hatred in our country.

"Whether it is Islamophobia, anti-semitism or any form of bigotry, we must confront it together — with unity and courage, not silence.

“The bloodshed and violence in the Middle East — which is excruciatingly painful to witness for all of us — must not be allowed to poison our streets in Britain. We must never let pain abroad be used to justify hatred and violence against anyone at home.”

Rabbi Jonathan Romain, emeritus rabbi of Maidenhead Synagogue, said: “The real tragedy is, of course that the war in Gaza, which is tragic in itself, has sort of spilled over into the United Kingdom.

“For the last two years, we were desperately trying to make sure that whatever was going on in the Middle East was not imported here. This has shown that our worst fears have been realised.”

The British Muslim Trust described the attack as “despicable and cowardly,” and said it stands with the Jewish community.

Communist Party general secretary Robert Griffiths said: “The Communist Party unreservedly condemns the attack outside a Manchester synagogue, which underlines the importance of drawing the vital distinction between anti-semitism and opposing the policies of the Israeli government and state.

“Terrorist attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions do nothing to advance the cause of the Palestinian people. Many Jewish people around the world, not least in Israel, have made clear their opposition to the genocide in Gaza.

“Britain’s Communists oppose anti-semitism in all its forms and will continue to work for working-class unity against racism, war and capitalism.”