King meets families of Southport stabbing victims

The King has met the bereaved families of the Southport stabbing victims during a private audience at his London home.

Charles sat down in Clarence House with the parents of the children killed in the attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on July 29.

He travelled to Southport on Tuesday and spent 45 minutes with some of the children who survived the attack and their families, after viewing a sea of floral tributes to the victims.

Flowers had been left outside Southport Town Hall in memory of Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, all fatally injured during the attack.

Following the stabbings, rioting broke out in Southport with the local mosque targeted and a popular convenience shop attacked, with further violence across the country for a number of days.

The disorder included looting with hotels housing asylum seekers also attacked before counter demonstrations appeared to quell the disturbances.

The violence, denounced as "far-right thuggery" by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, was sparked by false claims about the identity of a teenage suspect later charged with three counts of murder.

Charles went on a brief walkabout outside the town hall meeting some of the well-wishers who had gathered on Tuesday.

Helen Marshall, 71, was among the crowds and said: "The last few weeks have been devastating but the community spirit is the thing keeping us going."

The King also visited a local fire station to meet members of the local emergency services who dealt with the attack, and others from the community affected by the rioting. Hear all the latest news from across the UK on the hour, every hour, on Greatest Hits Radio on DAB, smartspeaker, at greatesthitsradio.co.uk, and on the Rayo app.

• Southport