Two people have been arrested after a man was stabbed in North Oxford.

Police were called at 10.54pm last night to a report that someone had been stabbed in Banbury Road.

Police said a 26-year-old man was walking with his partner and when he was close to the junction with Portland Road, they saw a man lying in one of the front gardens.

The men went over to see if the man in the garden was OK, when he got up and shouted homophobic abuse at the two men.

An altercation took place and the man in the garden then ran off along Portland Road returning a short while later with a woman.

They then approached the two men, and the man stabbed the 26-year-old man in the stomach, and ran away back down the same road.

The man was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, where he remains in a stable condition.

Det Chief Insp Colin Paine said: “I believe that this is an isolated incident, and I would like to reassure the gay community that we are taking the comments made and this matter very seriously.

“We are working closely with the Terrance Higgins Trust and taking advice. Any form of hate crime will not be tolerated in Oxford and we have committed a team of detectives to investigate this matter and will work relentlessly until whoever has done this is brought to justice.

“Two people have now been arrested."

Sgt Felicity Parker, representing the Thames Valley Gay Police Association, said: “We are putting extra police officers in the community to offer our support to the community.

“We will be available and accessible to anyone who might have concerns. The Homophobic Awareness Liaison Team (HALT) in Oxfordshire can also offer support through their website www. http://www.oxhalt.co.uk/ Anyone with information which could help the investigation should contact Oxford CID via 0845 8 505 505, or if you don’t want to talk to the police or give your name, call the Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111.