A shop owner who went to the aid of a boy stabbed outside a barber shop says the victim was “lucky” not to have been knifed in the chest.

Zaheen Mohammed, 35, who owns FD Applicances, Green Lane, said: “I saw a guy in the barbershop full of blood. The barber passed the phone to me and I spoke to the ambulance.”

Mr Mohammed was told to take a clean, dry towel to wrap around the wound to stop the blood flow.

“The boy couldn’t walk. He was lucky he didn’t get stabbed in the chest because he would have died.”

The boy, believed to be 16, went to the T&K Barber Shop in Connaught Road, Ilford at about 2.45pm.

He was then reportedly called outside where the attack took place about 20 minutes later.

The shop’s owner, Naveed Ahmed, 34, said: “He came in the shop, he was bleeding and he asked for help.

“All the floor was covered in blood. He tried to sit on the chair and there was blood everywhere.

“I put pressure on his leg and a tourniquet.”

Paramedics were called to Green Lane where they treated a boy for injuries to his leg and hands. He was taken to hospital as a priority and was conscious and breathing at the time, according to the London Ambulance Service.

Part of Connaught Road was cordoned off this afternoon and two police cars, a police van and a dog unit were on the scene.

Forensics officers are examining the area.

Did you witness what happened. Contact the newsdesk on 020 8477 3800 or email newsdesk@ilfordrecorder.co.uk.