Detectives have been granted more time to question a 17-year-old boy over the deaths of three children in a knife attack at a dance class.

The teenager has been in custody since he was arrested in Southport on Monday.

Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and nine-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar died and eight other children were injured in the attack at a Taylor Swift-themed event.

Merseyside Police confirmed officers investigating the attacks have been granted the extension by local magistrates.

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Five of the children are said to be in a critical condition, along with two adults, following the attack at the Hart Space centre in Hart Street.

The suspect, who has not been named because of his age, was born in Cardiff and later moved to the village of Banks in Lancashire.

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