A MAN was stabbed as he confronted a gang outside a Walthamstow shop.

Shop assistant Ozgur Ucar, in his late twenties, from Hackney, was trying to apprehend a youth who had not paid for a can of soft drink at Luks Minimarket on the corner of Billet Road and North Countess Road between 3.30 and 3.45pm on Thursday.

Colleague Yilmaz Aslan, 31, said he told Mr Ucar to let them walk away but he approached them and demanded full payment for the stolen item. He then took the can of drink back from the youth, who then punched him.

Mr Ucar defended himself and punched the youth back. A struggled ensued and a second youth standing behind the victim stabbed him four times in the lower back.

Mr Aslan said the two youths responsible were involved in an altercation about 18 months ago, in which shop owner Salhattin Erdogan, 42, suffered a broken nose.

Mr Ucar sustained injuries to his kidneys and was taken to Royal London Hospital by ambulance, but is not in a life-threatening condition.

"We don't get much trouble here but when we do it happens big," Mr Aslan said.

"We have seen them hanging around here a lot, giving trouble to the school kids."

Kay Patel, 50, who works at a supermarket on Billet Road near the scene of the incident, said she had encountered schoolchildren trying to steal items but had never had any problems when confronting them outside her shop.

She added that the incident would not deter her from doing the same in the future.

"If you let them get away with it, they will do it again," she said.

Billet Road was closed as police gathered evidence but has since been reopened. No arrests have been made.

Anyone with information should contact the Violent Crime Investigation Team on 8345 3015 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. By James Ranger and Natalie Glanville