A man is critically ill in hospital today after being stabbed during violence at a Sikh festival in Birmingham which left a number of people injured.

The man, aged in his 50s, was stabbed several times in Handsworth Park during the Vaisakhi event, held as part of Sikh new year celebrations.

The park was closed for several hours while police investigated the trouble, which flared up around 4pm yesterday.

Six other people suffered significant injuries, including head injuries and lacerations, and were taken to hospitals around the city by ambulance. Two others were treated by St John Ambulance.

A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: "There is no doubt that this was a difficult incident for all of the crews, but they did an excellent job providing care to a range of injuries ranging from minor to severe.

"We would like to pay credit to a number of police officers who came across a man with an arterial bleed and who had lost a large quantity of blood.

"They applied a pressure dressing to stem the blood loss until the ambulance staff could get to the man and take him to hospital after stabilising his condition."

The spokesman added that he was disappointed that one of the ambulances called to the park had its rear lights damaged.

"Ambulance staff are there to help people who are ill or injured and they and their equipment should not have to put up with being threatened or attacked," he said.

In total nine ambulances, four paramedics, a rapid response car and a rapid response doctor were needed to deal with the aftermath of the violence.

Hundreds of Sikhs had been expected to join the parade from Smethwick High Street to the park.