The BBC has been accused of censorship after Twitter uses suggested references to 'Allah' and the 'Koran' were edited out of a TV interview.

Karrien Stevens, who runs Little Diamonds Nursery in Hermon Hill, London said yesterday that a member of her staff was punched, kicked and slashed with a 'Stanley knife' by three 'Asian women' chanting about 'Allah' and the 'Koran'.

The televised interview, which was shared on Twitter, shows a cut at 17 seconds - the point where users suggested Ms Stevens would have gone on to make her comments about Islam.

At this point in the clip users say the interview skips, suggesting two pieces of footage were spliced together.

The reason some Twitter users believe that these comments were edited out is because Ms Stevens is quoted in a written BBC Online article saying the women 'shouted out "something to do with Allah and the Koran".'

A BBC spokesman admitted the television clip was edited to fit their news report, but would not confirm which comments made by Ms Stevens were removed from their broadcast.

Nursery manager Karrien Stevens (pictured) said a member of staff was stabbed by three women 'chanting Allah'

When she was interviewed by BBC TV cameras there was no mention of the attackers chanting and some of her words were clearly edited out

The Metropolitan Police is treating the assault as a 'hate crime' and not terror related.

Ms Stevens told journalists that the victim, identified only as Katie, was on her way into work at about 9.30am in Wanstead High Street when she was followed by three women 'dressed in black'.

She said: 'They pulled her to the ground, punched her, kicked her. One of them pulled out a knife and cut her arm from her wrist to her elbow.

She added the 'girls were behind her chanting the Koran, "Allah".'

Ms Stevens did not witness the assault herself but claimed she spoke to the victim after she was rescued and brought to the nursery by a passerby.

The victim, 30, was walking down Wanstead High Street on her way to the nursery (pictured), when she was set upon and knifed by three 'Asian girls', according to her boss

One viewer tweeted: 'Yep... at 17 seconds... Clip altered

Another Twitter user said: 'Sounds like biased reporting'

The 34-second clip was edited half way through as Ms Stevens talked about the attackers, causing speculation that the references were deliberately removed.

One viewer tweeted: 'Yep... at 17 seconds... Clip altered.'

Another said: 'Sounds like biased reporting.'

It was described as 'shameless censorship' by another Twitter user.

A BBC spokeswoman denied that the clip was edited to sensor the Allah comments.

She said that the TV interview needed to be edited to fit into a short news report for broadcast, but that the corporation's coverage of the story online and on Radio 2 included comments that Ms Stevens had given in other interviews, where she was more specific about what she heard.

The spokesman added: 'We reported this story accurately adding new information when we could, including reporting claims of what was being shouted.'

The victim was just a few minutes from work when she was allegedly dragged to the ground and knifed

Ms Stevens told reporters that the victim was 'very emotional' after the assault and sustained 'some cracked ribs' and had to have stitches.

She added that she believed the attackers were strangers and the assault was unprovoked.

The victim, described as a white woman, was attacked less than 10 minutes' walk from the nursery.

Paul Ashmore, 31, a mixing and mastering engineer in South Woodford, said his fiancee and child were held on lockdown at Wanstead Church School, a 30-second walk away.

The 30-year-old nursery worker was attacked from behind and then stabbed in the arm as her assailants chanted 'Allah' in the quiet, leafy street (pictured)

He said his fiancee called him to say the school was not allowing anyone to leave 'because there was a stabbing outside', and added that the police did not know 'where the persons who did it were'.

They were initially told it was gang-related, he said.

'My instant thought was to collect my fiancee and kid and get them to safety not knowing the full extent of what was happening. But I was thinking the worst.

'I instantly, after what has been happening regarding terrorists, thought the worst and informed her I will drive up to collect them,' Mr Ashmore said

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said the attack was being treated as a hate crime.

The nursery boss, who did not see the assault herself, said the attackers were 'Asian girls' and that they ran off when a man came to the rescue and took the victim to her workplace

He added that the Met's Counter Terrorism Command was aware of the assault but is not investigating 'at this time'.

Officers drove the victim around the area in an attempt to find the perpetrators but no arrests were made.

A spokesman for the London Ambulance service said: 'We sent an ambulance crew to the scene, arriving in under six minutes.

'We treated a woman and the scene and took her to a hospital in east London.'