Nottingham attacks: What we know so far

Three people have died and another three injured following a series of attacks in Nottingham early on Tuesday morning.

A 31-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder and remains in police custody.

Here is what we know so far.

Two students, both aged 19, were found stabbed to death in Ilkeston Road, west of Nottingham's city centre, just after 04:00 BST.

Some time after 05:00, a man in his 50s was also found dead from knife injuries in Magdala Road - just under two miles (3.2km) away from the scene of the first two killings.

Police are linking all three deaths.

The suspect is believed to have stolen the man's van before heading to Milton Street in the city centre where he drove into three people waiting at a bus stop at around 05:30. All three were taken to hospital.

Police said they then stopped the van in Maples Street where a 31-year-old man was Tasered and arrested.

The two 19-year-olds killed in Ilkeston Road were students at the University of Nottingham.

Police have not officially named them but they have been identified as Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley Kumar.

Mr Webber, from Taunton in Somerset, was an amateur cricketer who attended Taunton School from nursery through to sixth form.

"In his long association with the school, he touched the lives of many staff, pupils and parents and his loss will be very difficult to come to terms with," the school said in a statement.

Ms O'Malley Kumar, meanwhile, was said to have been a talented hockey player, having been a member of England Hockey's under-16 and under-18 squads.

Bancroft's Independent School, which she left at the end of the last academic year, described her as an "immensely gifted and dedicated scholar and sportswoman".

The man in his 50s who was found dead in Magdala Road has been named locally as Ian Coates, a caretaker who worked at Huntingdon Academy, part of the L.E.A.D. Academy Trust.

"Ian was a much-loved colleague who always went the extra mile for the benefit of our children and will be greatly missed," the trust said in a statement.

Of those injured in Milton Street by the van, one man was in a critical condition and the other two were believed to have minor injuries, police said.

The 31-year-old suspect in custody is originally from West Africa but had been in the UK for many years, official sources have confirmed.

He is not a British citizen but he had settled status, meaning he had permission to stay in the country for several years.

He did not have a criminal record and was not known to the security services.

It is also understood that the man has a history of mental health issues.

Lynn Haggitt witnessed the van being driven into two people in Milton Street.

She said she saw the driver look in his mirror and see a police car behind him. At that point, he "quickened up" before going "straight into" them, she said.

"The woman went on the kerb and the man went up in the air," she said. "It was such a bang - I wish I never saw it - it's really shaken me up.

"I went over. Perhaps I shouldn't have gone over, but I wanted to see if I could help."

Another eyewitness said he saw a young man and young woman stabbed in Ilkeston Road at about 04:00 BST.

The man, who asked to remain anonymous, said he looked out of the window and saw a "guy dressed all in black with a hood and rucksack grappling with some people. It was a girl, and a man or boy she was with - they looked quite young.

"She was screaming 'help!' I just wish I'd shouted something out of the window to unnerve the assailant.

"I saw him stab the lad first and then the woman. It was repeated stabbing - four or five times. The lad collapsed in the middle of the road."

The man said he phoned 999 and police arrived within five minutes. Paramedics spent 40 minutes trying to revive the pair, he added.

Police said the investigation was in its early stages and they needed to work out the motive behind the attacks.

They said they were keeping an "open mind" and working alongside counter-terrorism police, as would normally be the case for an incident like this.

The police are not looking for anyone else in connection with the attacks.

Officers searched a number of addresses across the city throughout Tuesday.

Around lunchtime, armed officers raided a property in Ilkeston Road, the street where Mr Webber and Ms O'Malley Kumar were earlier found dead.

In Magdala Road, where Mr Coates was found dead, police have set up a forensics tent.

Forensic officers were also looking at a dented white Vauxhall van in Bentinck Road near the scene of the arrest.

A dedicated police phone line has been set up and anyone concerned about family or friends can call 0800 096 1011.

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this story you can visit BBC Action Line.