A MAN has been seriously injured following a daylight stabbing in Southampton city centre.

A man in his 40s was rushed to hospital with stab wounds to his abdomen following an attack near the junction of Ascupart Street and St Mary Street.

Police urged people to stay away from the area due to the incident at around 3.30pm on Wednesday.

Officers remained at the scene throughout the night and spent much of Thursday carrying out investigations.

At the time of writing, the man remains in hospital in a serious condition, however, no one has been arrested.

Commenting on the assault, Bargate councillor John Noon said: “We need to get knives off the streets and other weapons.”

The Labour politician said: “I was very concerned to hear about this in St Mary Street because on the whole, there’s loads of decent people living in the area, but they are increasingly feeling less safe in their community.

“Everyone must be concerned if there is a serious crime or violence taking place.”

Meanwhile, Cllr Spiros Vassiliou, the city council boss for communities, said: “It’s very worrying every time we hear of a stabbing incident and it’s really completely unacceptable that this is happening on our streets here in Southampton.”

Speaking about the issue of knife crime in general, he said: “We want to work with the police as a council and ensure that young people have more education about the dangers of carrying a knife around with them.”

He told the Echo that the local authority has recently launched a community fund with £50,000 allocated to address education surrounding knife crime and drug crime.

Detective Inspector Claire Shawley has since urged anyone who was in the St Mary’s area on Wednesday afternoon who might have information to come forward.

She has pleaded for witnesses to call police on 101 quoting crime reference number 44210472417.

However, less than six-months ago, police swooped on St Mary Street when a 36-year-old man was stabbed on August 11.

The road was blocked off in both directions and a cordon put in place.

Officers later arrested a 45-year-old man from Southampton on suspicion of Section 18 – wounding with intent.

He was released from bail under investigation until Wednesday, December 8.