A teenager is in a stable condition in hospital after he was stabbed in the grounds of a Stratford church on Friday.

Police and paramedics were called to West Ham Parish Church (All Saints) in Church Street at about 1.45pm to reports of an assault.

A 19-year-old man was treated at the scene before being taken to an east London hospital suffering from a number of stab wounds.

Shocked witnesses described seeing the victim being rushed to hospital.

Rasapalan Rafia, who works in the church office, said he arrived after the stabbing had taken place.

He said: “It’s not something that you expect to see here. I was told a young boy had been stabbed in the churchyard and not the church.

“The ambulance came and took him to hospital.”

The London Air Ambulance was also dispatched to survey the area but was not used to take the victim to hospital.

Another onlooker, who did not wish to be named, said the incident had already happened by the time her partner saw anything.

She added: “It was upsetting and by late afternoon people all over the neighbourhood had been talking about a murder or stabbing at the church.”

Enquiries are currently under way. Nobody has been arrested during the investigation.