Eight people, including a number of children, have been injured in a stabbing in a town.

Merseyside Police said officers were called to a “major incident” at a property on Hart Street in Southport at about 11:50 BST.

The force said armed police “detained a male and seized a knife” and 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.

Alder Hey Children’s Hospital said it had declared a “major incident”.

“The trust is working with other emergency services to respond to this incident and our emergency department is currently extremely busy,” a representative said.

They said parents should only bring their children in if it was urgent, adding all other appointments and services were running as normal.

NWAS said it “dispatched 13 ambulances along with specialised resources” to the incidents and had also taken patients with stab injuries to Aintree University Hospital and Southport and Formby Hospital.

Journalist Tim Johnson of Eye on Southport, who arrived at the scene about 20 minutes after the police had been called, said a Taylor Swift Yoga and Dance Workshop aimed at Year 2 to Year 6 primary school children had been taking place nearby.

The organisers have been approached for comment but have not yet responded.

Mr Johnson the incident happened at the Hope of Hart children’s club, which is housed in a former warehouse building on a back street.

He said those hurt were children and he had seen one girl on a stretcher who was seriously injured.

“It was horrendous. I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said.

“There were so many police cars.

“It was a mass of blue lights.

“I saw ambulance men and women in tears. People were in tears in the streets.”

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the multiple stabbings were “horrendous and deeply shocking” as he thanked emergency services for their response.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said she was “deeply concerned” about the “very serious incident”, while Southport MP Patrick Hurley added that he was “hoping for the best possible outcomes to the casualties affected”.

A local business owner, who was one of the people who called the police, said it had been like a “scene in a horror movie”.

Colin Parry, owner of Masters Vehicle Body Repairs on Hart Street, said he believed six or seven “young girls” had been stabbed and their mother visibly upset.

“It’s like something from America, not like sunny Southport,” he said.

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

She said shotlry after, 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.”

Additional reporting by PA Media.