A man has been charged with attempted murder after an 11-year-old girl was stabbed in Leicester Square.

The Metropolitan Police said its officers went to the scene of a stabbing in London on Monday where the girl was found with stab wounds.

She was taken to hospital where her injuries, while serious, were assessed as non-life threatening, the force said.

Ioan Pintaru, 32, of no fixed address, was charged with attempted murder and possession of a bladed article.

It was initially believed that the girl’s mother, a 34-year-old woman, was also hurt however it was later confirmed that blood from her daughter’s injuries had been mistaken for injuries of her own.

He was remanded in custody to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday morning.