Southport stabbing latest: Teenage boy arrested after one feared dead and seven injured in dance studio attack

A teenage boy has been arrested after a knife attack at a children’s dance class in Southport, with one child is believed to have been killed..

Eight patients including children have been treated for stab injuries after police were called to a studio holding a Taylor Swift themed dance workshop.

Armed police have detained a man and seized a knife after officers were called to reports of a stabbing at a property on Hart Street on Monday.

A 17-year-old boy from Banks has been arrested in connection with the stabbings in Southport and the incident is not currently being treated as terror-related, Merseyside Police said.

Members of the public have been urged to avoid the area around the street after the force was alerted to the incident at around 11.50am.

One woman who lives nearby told the Liverpool Echo newspaper that residents had warned each other on Whatsapp groups to lock their windows and doors following reports of a man “running around stabbing people.”

An eyewitness, who runs a corner shop nearby, says he saw “seven to ten kids” running from a nursery while bleeding.

Have you been affected by this incident? Email athena.stavrou@independent.co.uk