Romford businesses and a shopper have reacted to the "shocking" stabbing inside The Brewery.

The Metropolitan Police were called to the shopping centre in Romford at 12.53pm today (February 20) to reports of an injured man inside.

A witness reported seeing a man with a knife injury to the back. Police found the man and took him to an east London hospital.

The stabbing has prompted shock in Romford, including from nearby shopkeepers.

Daniel Farooque, who has been store manager of Dr Gadgets Romford in Brewery Walk for ten years, felt it was surprising because there is a lot of security around The Brewery.

"I saw people rushing back and forth," he said. "It's surprising because there's a lot of security here.

"It's very worrying that this happened," Daniel added. "It was very shocking."

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A mother who was in the shopping centre with two young children said she just wanted to get out as quickly as possible.

"We just wanted to get as far [out] as possible as we could," the woman, who didn't wish to be named, said. "We were with an eight-year-old and a seven-year-old [and] we didn't want them to get scared," she added.

The woman said she was there with her son and a friend when they were told to evacuate the building.

"It's just so scary you can't go out and enjoy [it] anymore," she said on Facebook.

A South Street shop manager said he heard a police car racing past his shop.

"I'm not at all surprised to hear about this happening," Sanjay said. "It's getting worse and worse."

Just last Thursday (February 15), The Recorder reported a male had been threatened by a gang of five carrying a knife near The Brewery.

Kidspace Adventures in the shopping centre also announced it had to shut due to the stabbing.

"Due to unforeseen circumstances The Brewery, Romford, has closed for the remainder of the day," it announced on Facebook.