TWO 18-year-old's have been stabbed in separate incidents as the knife crime epidemic continues.

In the first incident, the victim was stabbed repeatedly in street in Chelmsford, in Essex and later another man was knifed in Balham, south London.

Essex Police had a cordon in place at a junction after the Chelmsford incident, which happened at around 5pm.

Forensic investigators examined the scene and the force's dog unit was also present.

Essex Police say they are appealing for witnesses following the stabbing.

'We were called at 5.05pm today, Wednesday 20 March, with reports a man had been found injured in St John's Avenue.

'The 18-year-old from Chelmsford had stab wounds to the stomach and leg and was taken by air ambulance to hospital. His injuries were described as serious.'

A search is ongoing for the suspects and we ask witnesses or anyone with information to call Chelmsford CID on 101 quoting incident 820 of March 20.

Later, the Metropolitan Police say aid they were called to reports of an injured male at Balham Hill, SW12.

HUNT FOR SUSPECT

Witnesses reported seeing an air ambulance landing in Clapham Common as commuters got off the tube.

"Officers, London Ambulance Service and London’s Air Ambulance attended. At the scene an 18-year-old male had suffered a stab wound.

"The injured male was taken to a west London hospital. We await an update on his condition."

A crime scene has been established and no arrests have yet been made.

It comes as Britain battles a knife crisis with 42 people stabbed to death across the country so far this year – including 12 in just two weeks.

Last week a 19-year-old boy was seriously injured after being stabbed in the chest outside a DLR station in Lewisham, South East London.

Jodie Chesney and Yousef Makki, both 17, were stabbed to death in a devastating weekend of violence earlier this month.

Meanwhile, Scotland Yard chiefs have unveiled plans to tackle the knife epidemic by stop-and-searching 1,000 suspects every day.

It comes as the UK murder rate soars to the highest number for a decade.

Knife crime has also increased by eight per cent as violence spirals out of control across the country.

Chancellor Philip Hammond  announced a £100 million funding package to tackle Britain's knife crime epidemic.

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