Terrified locals have described how a car screeched to a halt in a Wembley street last night before a man got out and stabbed a passer-by.

Customers of the Paddy Power betting shop in Chalkhill Road said that a vehicle, believed to be a saloon car, pulled up alongside the victim at just before 7pm before speeding off after a passenger carried out the attack.

The victim, thought to be a 25-year-old man, remains in a stable condition in hospital.

Splatters of blood remain on the pavement outside Chalkhill Primary Care Centre where the attack took place, five days after Dilip Patel, who lives nearby, said that he had seen a gang of men with a baseball bat screaming “I’m going to kill you” outside his house in the early hours of the morning.

He added: “It is scary and it’s been going on for months. There’s always a gang of men sitting outside there shouting and swearing.

“I see people coming up to them on bicycles and handing them something, and then cycling off – they’re outside [the health centre] every night.”

The road, which was sealed off by detectives investigating the incident last night, had reopened this morning, but officers were patrolling the area.

Another witness, who was attending a class in the community centre attached to the GP practice, said that she saw a swarm of police on the street moments after the stabbing.

She added: “It is scary that it happened by a community centre where kids come for different activities every day.

“We were in the community centre and it happened on the road outside. When we came out the ambulance and police had arrived.”

Police said no arrests had been made and the stabbing was under investigation.