A young man was stabbed to death in a street yards from a school in a suspected “robbery gone wrong”.

The 25-year-old was found collapsed on a pavement suffering a knife wound to his chest in west London on Thursday afternoon.

He is understood to have staggered through a nearby estate before falling to the ground in front of horrified passers-by in Old Oak Road, East Acton.

Paramedics battled to save him but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

The killing brings the number of murders in London in the first two weeks of 2018 to five. Police have confirmed four of the victims were stabbed to death.

A large cordon was thrown around the surrounding streets following the stabbing just before 4pm yesterday.

Staff at a specialist school for autistic children 100 yards from the stabbing were forced to keep pupils inside as officers hunted the knifeman.

A source close to the investigation told the Standard that the killing is thought to have followed an attempted “robbery gone wrong”.

One woman said teenage boys had been seen apparently mugging a man in nearby Ollgar Close, less than 20 yards from where the victim collapsed.

She said: “My husband was walking our child home from school. They walked past three teenage boys who were shouting and ran past the garages.

“The three boys were then pinning a guy up against a garage and holding him by the neck.

“They were shouting they were going to kill him. My husband said he heard them shouting to give them something. It sounded like they wanted something from him.”

The victim, who is believed to live locally, was found collapsed outside stretch of £1 million terraced houses.

One neighbour said his wife watched as police and paramedics battled to save him.

He said: “They were doing everything they could but they couldn’t save him.”

“We were told he was stabbed nearby and collapsed outside.

“It’s a shocking thing to happen, it’s so sad.”

Stephen Rochdale, 59, an IT consultant who lives in Olgar Close, said: “I’ve lived here 20 years. It’s very out of character for this area.”

Anyone with information should call Hammersmith and Fulham Police by dialling 101.