A fundraiser for victims and their families set up by a group of Taylor Swift fans has now more than doubled its original £13,000 target.

Cristina Jones, from the UK and EU Taylor Swift Facebook group told BBC Newsbeat: "The idea that those parents are going through hell right now and the idea they had any financial stress over this breaks our hearts.

"We can't make it better in any way. But taking away some stress was definitely a priority for us."

According to the fundraiser's JustGiving page, they are working with Alder Hey Children's Hospital to raise money for the families and for "funeral funds for the two young Swifties who have tragically passed".

Claire Hamilton
Reporting from Southport

The area is the very definition of a sleepy, leafy suburb.

Local people are passing by the police cordon on their way to work, pausing to lay flowers, read the cards and poems and reflect on the horror that happened here yesterday.

Image source, PA Media

Southport's former MP Damien Moore expressed his utter heartbreak at what has happened - saying the resort is usually a town associated with holidays and carefree summers.

Now this quiet, residential corner is in shock, waking up to reporters and cameras on the doorstep.

Local churches are open for people who simply want some peace or someone to talk to.

Few people laying flowers this morning want to talk - they just shake their heads in sorrow and disbelief.

A local businessman was stabbed in the leg as he tried to put himself between the children and the attacker, the Telegraph is reporting., external

Jonathan Hayes, 63, ran into the dance studio from his office next door after hearing screams, his wife tells the paper. He is due for surgery later.

"He heard screams and went outside, saw the attacker, saw that he had hurt a child and tried to take the knife off him and got stabbed in the leg," his wife, Helen, says.

"He’s very upset that he wasn’t able to be more help. Physically he will be ok, mentally I don’t know.”

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Father Tom Carpenter - the parish priest for Holy Trinity and St Luke's, just a couple of streets away from the scene - says the community is struggling to come to grips with yesterday's events.

One of his parishioners was on her way home from walking the dog when she witnessed the aftermath of the attack, he tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"That is not something easily processed by her or anyone else."

But he says that for this one act of cruelty, there are hundreds of kindness in the quiet seaside town, and that is what the community is defined by.

Stewart Whittingham
Reporting from Southport

The school holiday club was for children aged six to 11.

The class was fully booked and was attended by 25 youngsters and included a dance and yoga workshop plus bracelet making.

Local football club Southport FC have cancelled their pre-season friendly against Morecambe FC "out of respect" for those killed and affected by yesterday's attack.

The fixture was due to take place in the club's Haig Avenue stadium this evening, just a short walk from scene of the incident.

In a statement on social media, external, Southport FC said the club lounge would be open to the community today and that "specialist support staff will be present to offer assistance and comfort".

We've been receiving pictures this morning of some of the tributes left at the scene, where a large police cordon remains in place.

The tributes include flowers, dolls, stuffed toys, a poem and a card signed "love - Southport".

Image source, PA Media

Several witnesses have spoken about what they saw during and after the attack yesterday:

• The attacker arrived on Hart Street in a taxi and refused to pay the fare, according to Colin Parry, who owns a shop next to where the dance class was held
• Parry says he saw mothers arriving at the scene of the attack “screaming” and many children were taken into a nearby home for safety
• Multiple witnesses reported seeing several young children bleeding on the road, and one says he heard a woman screaming "my daughter's been stabbed"
• One parent said his daughter had managed to run away from the attack, and was left "traumatised"
• A local journalist said he had "never seen anything like it", as he described seeing a young girl being carried on a stretcher

Nicky Schiller
Reporting from Southport

I've just arrived at the police cordon at Hart Street and it is extremely quiet, apart from the journalists here.

I passed a few joggers out in the early morning.

This town is waking up in shock, grief and asking "why?"

Flowers have been left at both ends of the road.

There is a child's doll with a message sending condolences to the families affected.

Another bunch of flowers has been left with a poem entitled "Hope". It ends with the lines: "And through this devastation with tears, can barely cope. Our love to be ongoing. We cling to future hope."

Police are not looking for any other suspects, Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell confirms.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Spurrell says police will now take time to figure out what happened and why.

She also pays tribute to the emergency services, saying they walked into what was "a very traumatic scene".

Spurrell says she visited Southport yesterday and was "hugely impressed" by the way the community responded, including fundraisers, food parcels and setting up community spaces.

Labour MP for Southport Patrick Hurley says the area is waking up in "shock and grief".

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Hurley says the attack was an "uniquely horrific event" and the thoughts of the community are with the victims.

He says there will be a vigil tonight.

The MP warns against speculation online and encourages people with any information to inform the police.

"It is beyond the worse nightmare of any parent to see what unfolded yesterday in Southport," Chancellor Rachel Reeves tells our colleagues on BBC Breakfast.

"Like the rest of the country, my thoughts and prayers are with the families affected and the children who are still in a critical condition.

"Everybody will also be thinking of the emergency services, particularly those in the NHS and at Alder Hey hospital who were responding yesterday to terrible scenes.

"I would like to give thanks to all the emergency services who responded so quickly, including the police."

Harry Farley
Political correspondent

Image source, EPA

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is in Southport this morning after Monday's deadly stabbings.

She will meet Merseyside Chief Constable Serena Kennedy, Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell, and other community leaders.

We’ve just heard from Liverpool Echo reporter Ben Roberts-Haslam.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he says police officers who arrived at the scene were shocked by what they saw.

He called it an "unholy attack on a number of children and two adults who tried to protect them in the process".

"It’s a space my friends have used with their children," Roberts-Haslam adds.

"It’s a space where people have felt safe and should feel safe."

Helena Rothman
Reporting from Southport

A police cordon remains in place this morning as investigations continue.

The street is quiet and and people have been laying flowers for the two children killed in the attack.

Yesterday, police described the incident as "harrowing", "unthinkable and absolutely abhorrent".

Image source, Reuters

We are resuming our live coverage, following a stabbing in Southport yesterday, which killed two children and injured 11 others.

Here’s what we know first thing this morning:

• Six children and two adults are in a critical condition in hospital
• Merseyside Police believe the adults were injured whilst "bravely" trying to protect the children
• The children were attending a Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga workshop when the attack happened
• A 17-year-old male, born in Cardiff and living near Southport, has been arrested and remains in custody

• Police say the motivation for the attack was "unclear" but it was not being treated as terror-related

Aoife Walsh
Live editor

Over the last few hours, we've been bringing you the latest from Southport following a stabbing attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga class this morning.

We'll soon be pausing our coverage, but before we go, here's a glance at where things stand now:

• Two children were killed and nine more were injured – six of whom are in critical condition – in the "ferocious attack", police said at a news conference. Two adults were also injured
• Merseyside Police Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said the force believes the adults were injured while "bravely" trying to protect the children
• A man, 17, born in Cardiff and living near Southport, has been arrested
• Some details remain unclear – police say investigators are working to establish a motive, but confirmed the incident was not being treated as terror-related

• We've also heard accounts from witnesses, who told of horrific scenes in the aftermath of the attack, with one describing it as the "worst thing I’ve seen in my life"
• Merseyside's Police and Crime Commissioner said the region will be "heartbroken" over the "unthinkable and absolutely abhorrent" attack

We'll be resuming our live coverage in the morning, but in the meantime, you can read more about what we know so far about the attack here.

Kate McGough
Reporting from Alder Hey Children's Hospital

It’s quiet now outside Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool, where most of the media teams that have been here with us for most of the afternoon have now gone.

The hospital hasn't confirmed how many of the nine children injured and two children killed in this incident were brought here, or how many are being treated at other hospitals.

We spoke to one eyewitness outside the hospital who said they saw a helicopter landing here this afternoon after the incident down the road in Southport.

Alder Hey declared a major incident here earlier in the day, urging parents to only bring their children to A&E "if it is urgent". The trust says the major incident has now been stood down.

The Prince and Princess of Wales have paid tribute to those affected by the attack in Southport, saying they "cannot begin to imagine what the families, friends and loved ones" of the victims are going through.

"We send our love, thoughts and prayers to all those involved in this horrid and heinous attack," they say in a statement on X.

"Thank you also to the emergency responders who, despite being met with the most horrific scenes, demonstrated compassion and professionalism when your community needed you most".