Residents have been paying tribute to a 15-year-old boy who was stabbed to death in south-east London.

The victim, named in tributes as Jay, was taken to hospital with stab wounds after an incident in Bellingham on Thursday evening. He was pronounced dead at 8.15pm, the Metropolitan police said.

A cordon has been placed around the Morley’s chicken shop and other businesses on the road. Children in school uniform placed flowers and cards on railings at the scene.

Deanne Wright, 36, who lives in the area, said she used to see the victim on the bus every day. She went to Morley’s after a friend told her about the incident.

She said the victim and his friends used to “congregate” around Morley’s every day, but “something like this hasn’t happened before”. She added: “I just know he was a sweet little boy.”

Yelsan Aksan, 45, from Catford, works in a cafeteria nearby. He said: “It’s getting rough, it wasn’t like this when I used to live here, it was all right, there wasn’t stuff like this. Now, this is something people should take seriously, before any more kids, young children or anyone dies in this way.”