Southport stabbing: Man held as eight taken to hospital

Eight people have been stabbed and taken to hospital following a “major incident”.

Merseyside Police said it had received “reports of a stabbing” and were called to a property on Hart Street in Southport at about 11:50 BST.

Armed police “detained a male and seized a knife” and the force said there was “no wider threat to the public”.

North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) said they had treated eight patients with stab injuries and some had been taken to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.

Others have been taken to Aintree University Hospital and Southport and Formby Hospital.

North West Ambulance Service added on X: “We have dispatched 13 ambulances along with specialised resources of our Hazardous Area Response Team (HART), Air Ambulance and Merit Doctors to the scene”.

A woman who lives nearby told the Liverpool Echo she heard sirens and a helicopter circling at about 12:20 BST.

“Then the messages started to go around the local WhatsApp groups, saying ‘lock your windows, lock your doors’, we were told a man was running around stabbing people,” she said.

“We are all absolutely terrified, panicking and sick with worry – everyone is trying to reach anyone they know in the area. I don’t know how this can happen on a Monday lunchtime.”