Shoppers witness fatal Oxford Street stabbing » Communities » 24dash.com

Murder detectives are spending today working through scores of eyewitness accounts of a fatal stabbing in broad daylight on Britain's most famous shopping street.

A 22-year-old man died in the attack outside a McDonald's restaurant in London's bustling Oxford Street yesterday afternoon.

There were no immediate arrests but police are studying interviews with the many witnesses to the assault for clues.

The man was stabbed in a dispute after leaving the restaurant near Oxford Circus station at just before 5pm.

One witness, who did not want to be named, said: "I just heard the screaming and then saw a couple of black guys run past us."

A McDonald's spokeswoman said none of the fast food chain's staff was involved in the incident.

"I know that one member of staff who was actually on their way to work came up and saw the crowd outside the restaurant.

"He has given evidence to the police but as far as I know no one else saw anything.

"But obviously all members of staff that were on duty at the time of the incident will speak to the police as part of the ongoing investigation."

McDonald's refused to comment further, saying it did not wish to "prejudice any future case".

The victim has not yet been formally identified, although police believed they knew his identity.

Scotland Yard said it was too early to say whether he was with friends at the time or whether the attack was gang-related.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "At this stage we believe the victim was in McDonald's and then came outside, where he was involved in an altercation.

"We then believe he was stabbed. A post-mortem will be carried out at a later date."

Police cordoned off the busy shopping street last night, causing dozens of buses to be diverted.

The high-profile stabbing came less than a week after barrister Mark Saunders was shot dead by police at his flat off the fashionable Kings Road in Chelsea, west London.

London's newly-appointed Deputy Mayor for Young People, Ray Lewis, described the problem of crime in the capital as a "rising onslaught".

"I think we need to ask ourselves why we are where we are in the first place," he told the BBC's Newsnight.

"Because this isn't a blow-out, this is a slow leak.

"This has been an increasing and steadily rising onslaught of lawlessness and abandoned behaviour for a number of years."