A man has been stabbed after being attacked with a “machete” on Oxford Street, in London, in the early hours of New Year’s Day.
The 25-year-old man is in hospital after witnesses said he was attacked during a fight involving knives.
Police attended the scene along the stretch outside Bond Street underground station following reports of a group of men who were armed with knives in the area.
Paramedics arrived within four minutes and found the man wounded and he was taken to hospital. So far there have been no arrests.
Bond Street station was closed following the incident and buses were also diverted.
A witness told The Sun: “It was terrifying – people were screaming and running. The area was swarming with police and paramedics within minutes.”
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: “At 4.04am on Wednesday, January 1, police were called to Oxford Street, just outside Bond Street underground station, following reports of men armed with knives. Officers attended and at the junction of Oxford Street and South Malton Street they found a 25-year-old man with a stab wound.
“He has been taken to hospital and we await an update on his condition. An investigation is underway and a crime scene remains in place. At this early stage there have been no arrests.”
The stabbing comes after Sir Sadiq Khan’s knighthood was described as “an insult” to the families of knife crime victims, with violent crime in London having risen sharply during his tenure as Mayor of London.
Campaigners say Sir Sadiq has “completely ignored” the pleas of victims’ families to take more action to reduce stabbings, despite a 38 per cent rise in knife crime in the capital since he took office.
A London Ambulance Service spokesman said of the incident: “We sent resources to the scene, including an ambulance crew, a paramedic in a fast response car, a member of our Tactical Response Unit and London’s Air Ambulance. The first of our crews arrived in four minutes. Our crews treated a man at the scene, before taking him to hospital.”
The incident came after a 40-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving after a hit-and-run in which two revellers were injured.
Met Police officers were called to the junction of Regent’s Park Road and Primrose Hill in north London shortly after midnight, following reports of a vehicle crashing into a pedestrian.
The driver failed to stop and made off along Primrose Hill Road, where a second pedestrian was struck.
Police confirmed a 21-year-old man suffered minor injuries that did not require medical treatment.
The second pedestrian, a 59-year-old man, was treated by paramedics before being taken to hospital where his injuries were assessed as non-life-changing.
A 40-year-old man was later arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving, causing grievous bodily harm and possession of controlled drugs.
A police spokesman said officers located the vehicle a short distance away “at the junction of Primrose Hill Road and King Henry’s Road”.
