A TAXI driver was stabbed during a terrifying attempted robbery in Bournemouth.

The driver was parked in Exeter Road in the early hours of yesterday morning when a man got into his cab and threatened him with a knife before attempting to make off with his money bag.

The offender had been fleeing the scene of another robbery committed at an address in Exeter Road, police say.

However, the driver and two members of the public then gave chase, pursuing the offender down Old Christchurch Road and into Stafford Road.

The pursuit ended in a scuffle, and the driver - a 44-year-old Bournemouth man - suffered “puncture wounds”.

He was rushed to Poole Hospital with serious injuries. Another man, a 60-year-old from Dorchester, also suffered minor injuries during the incident.

Amandeep Singh, 24, was working at Smokin Rooster when he saw the drama unfold and stepped in to help.

“It looked like these guys really needed help,” he said.

“The man was lying down on the ground and was trying to stab them. I did my best to get hold of the knife and throw it away.”

Mr Singh and the second man held a man down while the taxi driver went to get help.

Police had already been called to a robbery at an address in Exeter Road at 12.35am.

A spokesperson from Dorset Police said: “The offender was pursued by the taxi driver and two other men and a man was detained by the three men until police arrived on the scene.

“During the incident one man, a 44-year-old from Bournemouth, suffered serious but not life-threatening injuries.”

A 36-year-old man of no fixed abode has been arrested on suspicion of robbery and wounding and is assisting police.

Kevin Holmes, chairman of the Bournemouth Station Taxi Association, said: “We’re in danger a lot of the time in the early hours.

“People know we have got money on us - even if it’s not a lot - and it is a risk we take.”