POLICE have charged a 24-year-old man from Darwen after a knife attack left two people in hospital.

Adrian Dutton was due to appear at Blackburn Magistrates Court today to face a wounding charge.

Ambulances were called to the incident in Sudell Road, Darwen, at 4.45am on Sunday, to find two men with knife wounds.

A 17-year-old man had been stabbed through his body. The knife had entered his abdomen and exited through his back, puncturing his lung. He also sustained cuts to his hands and arms as a result of trying to fend off his attacker. The other victim also had serious abdominal injuries and cuts to his arms and legs.

Both men were rushed to Blackburn Royal Infirmary, where they were put on chest drains in ward one. Their conditions are serious but stable and as yet they are not fit to talk to the police.

It is thought that the men were in a group walking from one party to another when an argument broke out.

Police are now trying to trace another man they believe may have been involved in the attack.