Greenwich Council has apologised for the “distress” caused by the delay in cleaning the blood from a crime scene in a residential building.

Police were called to reports of a fight at a residential address in Barnfield Road at around 10am on Friday, July 5.

At the scene, a man in his 20s was found with stab wounds.

He was taken to hospital where his injuries were assessed as not life-threatening.

A crime scene was put in place at the time and has now closed.

The News Shopper has contacted the Metropolitan Police for further updates.

Greenwich Council has assured residents that their safety is “of the utmost importance”, acknowledging that they understand “witnessing a crime scene may cause distress”.

One resident expressed their concern for young children in particular seeing blood splatters that they claim were left for over six hours after police closed the crime scene.

The council explained that there was a delay in them finding the blood on the building’s second floor despite the fact that their teams work hard to clean up “as quickly and thoroughly as possible” after “upsetting incidents” such as this one.

Anyone with information or footage should call police on 101 or post on X @MetCC quoting 2185/5JUL

To remain 100 per cent anonymous call the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or visit their website.

Photos show blood splattered across stairs inside of the building and the door handle to enter the building – Acworth House.

A resident told the News Shopper that six hours after the police cordon was removed and forensics had left the scene, the blood was still there and had not been cleaned.

The resident added that many people who live in Acworth House have young children, making them even more worried about the blood being left there.

A spokesperson for Greenwich Council said: “The safety of our residents is of the utmost importance and we work closely with the police to tackle and support the victims of crime across the borough. 

“We understand that witnessing a crime scene may cause distress, especially to young children.

“Our teams work hard, often under incredibly difficult circumstances, to clean up as quickly and thoroughly as possible following upsetting incidents such as this. 

“On this occasion, there was a delay in locating blood on the building's second floor but this has now been cleared and we apologise for any distress caused to residents.”

A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said: “Police were called at 09:54hrs on Friday, 5 July to reports of a fight at a residential address on Barnfield Road, SE18.

“Officers and London Ambulance Service [LAS] attended.

“At the scene a man, aged 20s, had suffered knife injuries.

“He was taken by LAS to a south London hospital.

“His injuries are not life threatening.

“A crime scene was put in place but is now closed.

“At this early stage there has been no arrests.

“Anyone with information or footage should call police on 101 or post on X @MetCC quoting 2185/5JUL.

“To remain 100 per cent anonymous call the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or visit crimestoppers-uk.org.”

A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We were called at 10.03am on Friday 5 July to reports of a stabbing on Barnfield Road, SE18.

“We sent resources to the scene, including an ambulance crew, a paramedic in a fast response car and an incident response officer.

“Our first crews arrived on scene in approximately three minutes.

“We treated a patient at the scene and took them to a major trauma centre.”