A community leader has expressed his shock and sadness after a teenage boy was stabbed in a west Suffolk town and is now in a critical condition. 

Emergency services, including the air ambulance, were called to a car park next to Strasbourg Square in Haverhill at about 3.05pm on Monday. 

An altercation is reported to have taken place between two teenage boys during which one of them was stabbed

County councillor for Haverhill East and Kedington David Roach said that these kinds of incidents are rare in the west Suffolk town. 

The victim, a 16-year-old boy, was initially taken to Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, for treatment, before being transferred to the Royal Papworth Hospital. 

He remains there in a "critical condition" having suffered life-threatening injuries, Suffolk police said. 

Mr Roach said: "They were known to each other and there is no wider issue for the community. 

East Anglian Daily Times: County councillor David RoachCounty councillor David Roach (Image: Newsquest)

"We don't get this sort of thing in Haverhill and it's very, very sad. 

"Our sympathies go out to the family of the boy who has been stabbed. 

"It's also very sad for the perpetrator because it will ruin the lives of both families. 

"We need to do more about knife crime and violence. 

"Perhaps do some education with our kids about how knife crime is not an answer to anything."