People living on a busy road in a Rochdale say they have been left shocked and saddened after a taxi driver was attacked and left fighting for his life.
The driver, a man in his 30s, is in a critical condition in hospital after he was brutally assaulted in Queensway at about 5am.
Two men, aged 18 and 20, have been arrested on suspicion of assault.
They remain in police custody for questioning.
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Queensway was closed in both directions throughout Saturday morning as police carried out investigations.
As forensics officers combed the scene for clues, residents in the Kirkholt area of town spoke of their shock at waking up to find police on their doorstep.
Sajid Mobeen lives a short distance away and said he heard a ‘commotion’ at about 4am.
“I looked out of the window and couldn’t see anything,” he added.
“You get a lot of people coming back from a night out, so I thought it was just people arguing.
“I woke up at 10am and saw all this. The police said they thought someone had been stabbed.
"I hope he pulls through and recovers.
"You hear about this sort of thing in other areas, but you don't expect it around the corner from your house."
Residents said police first descended on the street about 9am.
Queensway was then taped off between Darley Road and the Dacia car garage for several hours.
Police officers stood guard at both sides of the cordon, while the entrance to Dicken Green - a residential street just off Queensway - was also blocked off.
Eric Sutcliffe, who lives near to the scene, woke up on Saturday morning to be greeted with police tape outside his home.
“The police knocked on and said there was an incident at 4.30am," he said. "They didn’t say what.
"It’s worrying seeing CSI outside.”
Meanwhile, Zubair Mukhtar said he felt 'very sad' after hearing what had happened.
"I'm shocked," he added. "You get kids hanging around here a lot, but nothing like this has happened before.
"I saw the forensics earlier and the police said it was a serious incident. It doesn't look nice at all."
Inspector Peter Crowe, of GMP Rochdale's response team, said: "This was a horrendous assault on a man who should be safe when going about his daily life. Instead, he's now fighting for his life in hospital.
"While we have made arrests, we continue to appeal for the public's help in understanding the circumstancing surrounding this incident.
"If you were on Queensway this morning at around 5am and have any information - including dashcam or CCTV footage from the area at the time - please contact police."
Anyone with information is asked to contact police quoting incident number 674 of 30/10/21, or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
