ABOUT a dozen police revisited a Southampton murder scene last night to quiz a community about a crime that has so far turned up few clues.

A mobile police unit was set up in Derby Road, St Mary's, between 10am and midnight - just yards from where 18-year-old Mikhail Thomas was stabbed to death exactly one week ago.

As officers stopped passers-by and motorists, friends of the teenager who had lived in Southampton for four years arrived to lay flowers at the spot where he was attacked.

Detective Inspector Paul Barton said: "This is an unusual case. We are a week into the inquiry and we haven't arrested anyone.

"A murder has happened in this community, and we need their help to solve it."

His team were in the area to hand out questionnaires to scores of local people, asking them if they were near Derby Road last week - and, crucially, if they witnessed any events that fatal night.

Mikhail had visited several addresses in St Mary's before he arranged to meet up with a man at the junction of Derby Road and Cranbury Avenue at about 11pm last Wednesday.

It was there that he was stabbed.

DI Barton added: "We appreciate that, in this part of the city, there are people who are out for reasons they don't want to discuss.

"We're not interested in what those reasons are. We just want them to talk to us.

"We're doing as much as we can to contact people. We want to assure them that any information they provide will be dealt with sympathetically and in the strictest confidence."

Many residents popped out of their homes to talk to police last night, and officers stopped motorists on nearby streets.

Hundreds of leaflets appealing for witnesses, with information in seven different languages including Farsi, Polish and Urdu, were handed out.

Detectives said they'd had a good response and were hoping to get in touch with scores of pub-goers, homeowners and late-night shoppers throughout the session.

DI Barton said: "We have a lot of information that we are trawling through. We are confident we will arrest somebody at some stage."

Anyone with information should call police on 0845 045 4545 and ask for the Operation Holbrook incident room. Alternatively, phone the anonymous Crimestoppers number on 0800 555 111.