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Westminster attack: ‘London isn’t what it used to be’ Khalid Masood 'told Brighton hotel worker' before driving to capital

The Preston Park Hotel in Brighton: Google Street View
The Preston Park Hotel in Brighton: Google Street View

Westminster attacker Khalid Masood spent his last night at a budget hotel in Brighton and told staff that London "wasn't like what it used to be", it has been claimed.

Before he ploughed a rented car through pedestrians on Westminster Bridge and fatally stabbed a police officer outside Parliament, the terrorist—born Adrian Elms, in Kent—reportedly stayed over at the Preston Park Hotel in the East Sussex seaside town.

A source told The Sun he chatted with staff at the £59-per-night venue and told them he was "off to London today".

Detectives traced him to the hotel thanks to a receipt left in the car he crashed into railings outside Parliament, the paper reported. The Metropolitan Police declined to confirm whether its officers had visited the hotel.

The source said: "He said he lived above a guitar shop in Birmingham but he’s not originally from the Midlands and had a London accent. But he said London wasn’t like what it used to be. Police told us later it was definitely the Westminster attacker."

Masood's attack killed four people including PC Keith Palmer, whose family described him as "dedicated to his job and proud to be a police officer, brave and courageous".

An American, 54-year-old Kurt Cochran, was killed as he celebrated his 25th wedding anniversary with wife Melissa, who was injured.

Aysha Frade, who worked as a sixth form Spanish teacher at the nearby DLD College London, also died in the attack.

A British national, whose mother was Spanish and father was Cypriot, she lived in London with her two young daughters and her husband.

She was walking to meet her daughters from school when the attack happened.

And on Thursday night detectives said a 75-year-old man had died in hospital, his life support having been withdrawn.