Four people were injured when a car ploughed into pedestrians amid heightened security in Helsinki on Saturday, but Finnish police said it was apparently an accident.

The incident happened in a car park near a railway station, and the driver was arrested, police told the Finnish news agency STT.

“There is no indication for the time being that this was deliberate,” police spokesman Henri Helminen told Helsingin Sanomat newspaper.

Two of those injured were seriously hurt.

Police in many European capitals have boosted security ahead of celebrations to usher in the New Year.

Truck attacks in Berlin and the southern French resort city of Nice this year left 98 people dead and more than 400 injured.

Source: AFP