EXCLUSIVE: Shocking 60 per cent rise in people with stab wounds being treated at NGH

The number of people presenting at Northampton General Hospital with stab wounds has risen by 60 per cent over five years.

Official NHS figures showed the number of people arriving at the town's accident and emergency unit after being assaulted by a "sharp object" shot up in 2016/17.

In 2012/13 20 people needed treatment for stab wounds - but last year it jumped to 32.

In the 2016/17 figures - seven of the people stabbed were aged between 10 and 19, a fifth of the overall amount.

Johnston Press Investigations can reveal more than 18,000 people were admitted to hospital with injuries of this nature in English hospitals over the past five years.

More than 3,300 were children under the age of 10 and young people aged 19 and under, almost one in five cases.

Nationally, London has by far the worst problem for young people of 19 and under being attacked with blades.

Figures show there were 1,446 victims aged 10 to 19, around 30 per cent of the 4,869 cases recorded.