A man has been stabbed in the back leaving him with serious injuries after being approached by four men.

The man, who was in his 30s, was in Southchurch Road at around 8.45pm on Wednesday, February 14.

One the men then stabbed the victim, who is in his 30s, in the back but he managed to get away.

The men chased him along Southchurch Road as far as chase road.

The victim then ran to a nearby Tesco Express store and called for help.

He was taken to hospital with serious injuries.

One of the men has been described as black, about 5ft 5ins tall and wearing a black coat.

All the men were described as having scarves across their faces.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Simon Laurie, from Southend CID, said: “The motive for this attack is currently unclear and we have several lines of enquiry underway.

“I’m appealing for anyone in the area at the time with any information to come forward, in particular, anyone that saw 5 men running through the area at the time.

“In addition anyone driving through the area at the relevant time with car dash-cams that may have caught some of the incident.”

If you have any information please call us on 101 quoting the crime reference number 42/21578/18 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 55 111.