A 17-year-old cyclist was hacked to death by masked youths wielding machetes in a terrifying attack on a London housing estate, witnesses said today.

The victim was chased by a gang wearing balaclavas and carrying large knives who stabbed him multiple times and left him sprawled on the bonnet of a car in Battersea.

Neighbours told how they raised the alarm after being woken at 1.25am on Sunday by the boy’s scream of “help me, I’m dying”.

He was rushed to a south London hospital by paramedics where he he was pronounced dead around 90 minutes later.

He is the fourth teenager to be murdered in London in this month alone, and the eighth this year.

Residents in Ingrave Street said the gang arrived on the estate in a car and had been “hassling” passers-by earlier in the evening.

A 45-year-old neighbour said: “There were about six of them, they jumped out of the car and started chasing him immediately. He was on his bike but they caught up with him and stabbed him.

“Someone shouted ‘police are coming’ which stopped the others from finishing him off and they got in the car and sped off.”

Forensic teams sweeping the area have removed the victim’s bicycle and a blood-soaked car from the scene for further testing.

A mother laying flowers at the scene said: “It’s terrifying. My kid is the same age, there’s been so many murders around here recently.

“I didn’t know the poor boy but my daughter saw the guys who did it minutes before, they were covering their faces and quizzing anyone who came out of the block.

“She was terrified of them so she lied about her age so they wouldn’t hurt her.

“It’s very sad that this has happened on my doorstep. We’re leaving the area next week and I can’t wait.”

Earlier this month, Scotland Yard revealed knife crime was up 24 per cent and gun crime up 42 per cent over the past 12 months.

Jordan Wright from Catford and Abdullahi Tarabi, from Northolt, both 19, were both chased and fatally stabbed close to their homes earlier this month.

Boxer Karim Samms, 16, was shot dead in a drive-by attack in North Greenwich on April 7.

A Met spokesman said the victim’s family had been informed of his death.

He said: “There has been no arrest at this early stage and enquiries continue.”

In a separate fatal stabbing this weekend, a man was killed by a gang wearing ski masks in front of terrified children in Enfield.

Anyone with information should call the incident room at Lewisham via 101, or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.