Police have arrested a male in Leicester in connection with the murder of teenager Jodie Chesney who was stabbed to death in east London.

Jodie, 17, was with friends near a children’s play park in Harold Hill, Romford, when she was approached by two males and knifed in the back, police said.

Emergency services were called to the scene at 9.25pm on Friday but she was pronounced dead just over an hour later.

A male was arrested in Leicester on Tuesday in connection with Jodie’s murder.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman told The Independent detectives did not yet know his age.

The force said in a statement: “A male was arrested in Leicester on Tuesday 5 March in connection with the murder of Jodie Chesney, 17.

“He remains in custody at this time.

“Arrangements will be made to transport the male to London in due course.”

A post-mortem carried out on Sunday established that the cause of Jodie’s death was trauma and haemorrhage.

People visit the site near where 17-year-old Jodie Chesney was stabbed to death in Harold Hill, east London, on 1 March 2019. (Reuters)

Jodie was a Girl Scout and school friends said students at Havering College would be wearing purple next Friday in honour of the teenager and her Barking & Dagenham scout troop colours.

Jodie’s family has backed calls for tougher sentences on knife crime in the wake of her death.

Relative Karen Chesney appealed on Facebook for support for a petition calling for a 10-year jail term for knife possession and 25 years for using a knife.

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On Tuesday afternoon, the parliament petition had been signed more than 33,000 times.

It needs to reach 100,000 signatures before it can be considered for debate by MPs.

Yousef Makki, 17, was stabbed to death just a day after Jodie in Hale Barnes, near Altrincham, in Greater Manchester.

Two teenage boys, aged 17, were charged in connection with his murder on Tuesday.