Barnsley stabbing: Man hurt and major incident declared after reports of woman knife attacker

Police flood town centre and arrest suspect but say they are investigating if she acted alone

Police have flooded Barnsley town centre after a woman stabbed a man with what witnesses described as a large knife or machete.

The town was said to be placed in lockdown with shops told to bar doors and keep customers inside after the incident at 8.20am on Saturday morning.

South Yorkshire Police said one person had been arrested.

A local market trader has been hailed a hero after he faced the woman down.

Abdul Razzaq, 43 followed the 6ft-tall woman, and alerted police to where she was in the town's railway station.

He said he then convinced her to put down the knife before police officers grabbed her and made the arrest.

Mr Razzaq described how the woman got a knife as long as his forearm out of its wrapping and discarded the packaging in a bin right in front of his stall.

The trader, who has run his clothes stall on Peel Square for more than 15 years, was speaking as shoppers came to shake his hand and congratulate him on his bravery.

In an online statement, South Yorkshire Police did not acknowledge rumours the attack may have been terror related - but it did say it was investigating if the individual was acting alone.

It said: "Police were called at 8.20am this morning following reports that a man had been stabbed in Barnsley town centre. Police then received numerous further reports of an individual in the town centre with a knife.

"One person has been arrested in connection with the incident and is in police custody.

"One person suffered minor injuries. No other injuries have been reported at this time."

The statement added: "An investigation is now under way and is in its early stages to establish whether this is an isolated incident and whether the individual acted alone."

Assistant Chief Constable Tim Forber said: "We understand that this morning's incident will have been distressing and shocking for those in the town centre and wider Barnsley communities - rest assured we are working relentlessly to piece together what happened.

"A kitchen knife has been recovered by officers and is being forensically examined.

"At this stage, we are keeping an open mind as to the motivation. The investigation is being led by South Yorkshire Police but we are receiving support from detectives at Counter Terrorism Policing North East. It is not appropriate to speculate further.

"I'd urge anyone who witnessed this morning's incident to get in touch with officers - if you hold any footage of the incident, we'd be really keen to speak with you as well."

Agencies contributed to this report