Boy, 15, in a serious condition after stabbing outside McDonalds

A boy aged 15 was stabbed outside a McDonalds fast food restaurant in Salford on Saturday night.

The teenager was in a serious condition in hospital, Greater Manchester Police said in a statement.

Police patrols have been stepped up and emergency stop and search powers have been invoked following the attack at McDonalds in Higher Broughton, Salford.

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It is the latest in a series of shocking stabbing incidents. Since the beginning of the year, the Manchester Evening News has reported on 17 serious stabbing incidents. They include a 14-year-old girl stabbed with a broken bottle in a school, a 62-year-old knifed in a supermarket car park and a 19-year-old stabbed in the chest in a park. Chief Constable Stephen Watson has admitted there is 'too much knife crime'.

Tonight officers from GMP were initially called to a concern for welfare on Basten Drive in Salford, close to the McDonalds in Higher Broughton, at around 7.10pm. The emergency services were scrambled to the scene and a boy of 15 was taken to hospital with 'serious injuries', said the force.

"It is believed that the incident occurred outside the McDonalds restaurant in Higher Broughton, Salford," said GMP in their statement.

Officers remain at the scene to conduct further enquiries and to establish the circumstances surrounding this incident.

The force said a so-called 'section 60' order had been authorised in the area by a senior police officer. It allows officers in a prescribed area to stop and search individuals.

Superintendent Mark Kenny, GMP said: "I have authorised a Section 60 within the local area to ensure enhanced stop and search powers are in