A man has been left with life-threatening injuries after being stabbed in the stomach with a screwdriver in the early hours of Sunday.

Following an altercation about 4.30am in Colchester High Street, a man in his 20s, was stabbed in the stomach with what is believed to be a screwdriver.

The suspect, who left in the direction of St Peter’s Street after the incident, is described as being white, in his 20s with short mousey-brown hair and is of a slim build.

The victim was taken to hospital with potentially life-threatening injuries.

Parts of West Stockwell Street were cordoned off from about 9.30am on Sunday as police dogs and forensic officers gathered evidence. Police cars were stationed at either end of the street for a number of hours.

READ MORE: CCTV image released by police after High Street screwdriver attack

Colchester councillor, Darius Laws, who is responsible for the Castle ward, reassured residents that this was a one-off incident and the town centre was still safe.

He said: “The violent incident of this nature in Colchester is incredibly rare and things are safe out there.

“I would urge against any hysteria to suggest that Colchester is dangerous at night.

“Colchester is a safe place. We’ve been awarded the Purple Flag marking the safety of our evening economy.

“We have an incredible network of corporations between the licensing officers and venue license holders and every single one, to my mind, do an outstanding proactive job whereby they have a real handle of every single venue across Colchester and they understand that certain venues attract certain people.

“They know that people look for different experiences whether that be dancing, craft beer or late-night clubs.

“We’ve got a diverse economy in the town and it’s safe. This kind of thing is incredibly rare.

“As a borough we also have a comprehensive CCTV system across the town centre - which isn’t a statutory requirement of the borough.

“The council could easily say ‘let’s save half a million pounds and not have CCTV’. There’s absolutely nothing to stop that happening, but actually we value how much the CCTV prevents and captures these circumstances when they do occur.

“Colchester is a safe place and clearly an isolated, rare event and I would urge everyone to carry on.”

Call Colchester CID on 101, quoting incident 151 of March 18.