A man has been attacked with a bladed weapon in a UK town, with one local describing the horror of there being "blood everywhere". There is currently a large cordon in place at Bootle Strand shopping centre, with police officers rushing to the scene and closing off large parts of the centre on Stanley Road. A number of shops and restaurants are inside the cordon.

Merseyside Police said: "At around 5.45pm, officers were called to Stanley Road to reports of a man being assaulted, and sustaining lacerations to his head and face, caused by a bladed weapon. The victim has been taken to the hospital for assessment, and enquiries are ongoing to trace the offenders. House-to-house, forensic, and CCTV work is taking place tonight in the area, and we would ask anyone with information to come forward." But witnesses are claiming the victim was attacked with an axe. A McDonald's staff member speaking to the Liverpool Echo said: "We saw it all. A person was hit in the head with an axe. There was a lot of blood. Paramedics arrived and bandaged his head. It happened around an hour ago. We don't know who it was, but there are always people sitting on that bench."