A woman had her arm slashed by a 10-year-old boy after she refused to give him a cigarette. The woman, in her 50s, was confronted by the boy and his friend outside Selhurst railway station in south London on Wednesday.

He tried to grab a lit cigarette from her mouth and attacked her when she shouted back at the pair. Passers-by rushed to her aid as she bled heavily from the wound which was inflicted with a craft knife or razor.

CCTV studied

Officers are studying CCTV from the station and have taken statements from witnesses over the incident. A Metropolitan Police spokesman said the boys had been described as black and about ten years old.

"We are investigating an assault on a woman that occurred at around 2.20pm on Wednesday July 23 outside Selhurst railway station," the spokesman added.

"The victim, a woman aged in her 50s, received a cut to her arm after two boys attempted to steal a cigarette from her mouth."