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, believed to be mostly young girls, with stab injuries and some had been taken to Alder Hey Children's Hospital.

Alder Hey Children's Hospital's spokesman said: "We can confirm that the trust has 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."

The hospital asked parents to only bring their children in if it was urgent, adding all other appointments and services were running as normal.

Others who received stab injuries have been taken to Aintree University Hospital and Southport and Formby Hospital.

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