A van has been driven into a barricade near the White House, officials have said.

The driver has been arrested in Washington DC and no injuries have been reported, a police spokesman said.

Officers were called at about 6.37am local time "to the vicinity of the White House... after a van drove through the barricade at Connecticut Avenue and H Street, Northwest", he added.

The Secret Service said the man crashed into the temporary security barrier just before 6.30am (10.30am in the UK).

He was immediately arrested by officers from the Secret Service's uniformed division, the agency said, adding that he was being interviewed and that criminal charges were pending.

A police bomb squad was called to the scene, checked the vehicle and determined it to be safe.