A 12-year-old boy has become the youngest person to be charged over the riots that erupted after the murder of three girls in the British town of Southport.

The boy, who has not been named because of his age, is accused of taking part in the violent riots in Merseyside on July 30, Sky News reports.

The Southport boy will appear at Merseyside Youth Court. Co-accused with him are Harvey Gabbott, 21, from Tarleton, and Paul Dryhurst, 33, from Litherland, and will appear at Liverpool Magistrates' Court.

A total of 30 people have so far been charged over the riots in Southport and Liverpool.

The 12-year-old is accused of attacking a bus and throwing a stone at another young man during the riots outside the Holiday Inn hotel where the asylum seekers are staying.

On August 3, police recorded him breaking a shop window with his foot and throwing objects at police.

By Sunday, police had arrested 927 people in the UK and charged 466 of them. A spokesman for Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the government would not stop until the work was done.

Several defendants have already been sentenced to severe prison terms, including for posts on Facebook where they called for violence. The reading of the verdicts is often televised because the government believes it will deter citizens from violence.

The Minister of Justice Shabana Mahmood said that the judicial system will feel the consequences of several days of riots for months and years, considering that since the pandemic the prisons are full and the courts are overloaded.