Magistrates granted police more time to question two boys yesterday for an alleged attack on two other boys that left one severely injured and another dripping in blood from what a witness described as knife wounds.

Police said the boys, aged 10 and 11, had been arrested in allotments in Edlington, near Doncaster, South Yorkshire on Sunday.

One of the victims, aged 11, who was found partially conscious at the bottom of a ravine with head injuries, has been moved from intensive care to a high dependency ward where he is described as stable.

His nine-year-old friend, found bleeding heavily in a nearby street, has had an arm operation and is expected to undergo more surgery, police said. He also suffered facial injuries. A Downing Street spokeswoman said Prime Minister Gordon Brown had found the incident "very shocking" and would be following the case closely.