A teenager was today fighting for life in hospital after being shot in the chest at “point-blank range” in east London.

Witnesses said the victim, 16, was cycling down Lea Bridge Road, Leyton, when he was ambushed by a gunman in a white saloon car at 3am on Sunday.

The schoolboy tried hide behind bins and flee into an alleyway but was cornered as he tried to vault a locked gate.

A worker at a local minicab office said: “He looked so young. This kid was trying desperately to get out through this gate but it was locked.

“The shooter was very calm and took his time to get away, he was in no hurry. The boy had no chance. He was trapped.

“Somehow, probably through adrenalin, the kid got up and sprinted across the road to a 24-hour off-license to get help.

“He collapsed and his friend started pushing on his chest as they waited for the ambulance.

“He was screaming ‘I’m going to die, take me to hospital now’ at ambulance crews as they were cutting his clothes off.”

The teenager was rushed to an east London hospital where his condition is still described as critical.

Detectives from Waltham Forest and the Met’s Trident unit are investigating. No arrests have been made.