DETECTIVES are investigating a stabbing outside a Colchester supermarket.

Officers and paramedics were called to Aldi, on Magdalen Street, shortly after 2.30pm.

It is believed the man sustained the injuries outside the Colchester YMCA, before rushing to the nearby supermarket for help. 

A spokesman for Essex Police said: "Police are investigating an assault in Colchester.

"Officers were contacted shortly after 2.30pm following reports of a stabbing in Magdalen Street.

"Officers arrived and found a man aged in his 20s suffering from abdominal injuries in Aldi.

"Paramedics treated him at the scene."

He added: "Officers believe this was a drug-related stabbing." 

The victim has been taken to Colchester General Hospital for treatment as officers investigate the circumstances surrounding the alleged attack.

A car was stopped in East Street as part of the search but nobody has been arrested.

One eyewitness said: "I was shopping today at Aldi when a man came to the shop calling 'help, Ive just been stabbed".