Eye witnesses have described how people rushed to help a teenager who was stabbed in the Whitgift Centre last night during a fight.

Police were called to the shopping centre at 6.09pm yesterday to reports of a stabbing.

London Ambulance Service also attended and two boys aged 16 and 17 were taken to hospital with stab wounds.

One of the boys was taken to St Georges Hospital with serious injuries, the other was taken to Croydon University Hospital.

They are currently both in a stable condition.

One 20-year-old shop worker said a fight broke out outside Yoke Menswear as a group of boys attacked another boy.

He said what looked like the boy’s friends came to help him and a melee took place which is when the stabbings happened.

He said the attackers then fled, with one of the boys, who had a cut to his face, running after them.

The other boy was more seriously wounded and he collapsed outside Lyons Jewellers.

The shop worker said: “I heard them scream and shout that they had to get out of here.

“I went out with a first aid kit to try and help him and one of the girls from the hairdressers took some towels over.

“There was a lot of people around him and security and his friends were telling people to move back so he had some space.

“There was a lot of blood on the floor but he was responsive and was sitting up.”

He added: “They seemed like school kids as they were not that old but this is something you see more often in Croydon now.”

According to another source, a woman came back into the shopping centre after hearing the alleged attackers on the bus talking about it.

She gave descriptions of the boys and the bus number they were on.

A Whitgift Centre spokesman said: “The shopping centre’s pre-planned incident response procedure was activated and members of Whitgift Shopping Centre’s security team were in attendance.

“Part of the Centre was closed with emergency services notified, and the Police took control of the incident thereafter. The centre fully opened as normal this morning.

“As this is now a Police matter, the Whitgift Shopping Centre cannot comment further.”

Detectives from Croydon police are investigating. No arrests have been made.