Residents in Woodford Bridge have expressed their horror after a 16-year-old boy was stabbed to death after leaving a friend’s birthday party.

The teenager, named locally as Charlie Kutyauripo, had been celebrating a girl’s 16th birthday on Saturday before he was stabbed in a confrontation outside the social club on the Ashton Playing Fields, Chigwell Road.

Residents in surrounding roads have joined the partygoers in leaving flowers and tributes outside the club.

Sebastian Breda, 33, lives opposite the social club.

He said: “We didn’t learn about the incident until we heard the police sirens and watched from our window.

“I have a seven-year-old son and I was explaining to him what had happened, and how I will not let him wander the streets at 11 o’clock at night when he is a teenager.

“I think the parents of those four people should hand in their children - I don’t believe they wouldn’t know what their children have been up to.

“Now, a 16-year-old has died at a party, it is very sad.”

Steve Seager, 63, who lives on Waltham Road, said he was shocked to learn of the fatal incident.

He said: “We couldn’t believe he was stabbed practically on our doorstep - and over so little?

“The younger generation have lost their way - people never used to leave the house with a knife.

“If you leave the house with a knife, you’re leaving ready to cause trouble.

“It’s very upsetting news and I hope it can be resolved quickly.”