Police are hunting a knifeman who got out of the back of a taxi and stabbed a passenger in the front seat.

Motorists watched in horror as the man jumped out of the VW cab at traffic lights on Huddersfield Ring Road, pulled open the front passenger door and repeatedly stabbed the victim.

The man in the front tried to fend off the attacker and managed to slam the door.

The attacker then fled while the victim – described as “soaked in blood” – rushed to a nearby BMW, believed to be unconnected to the drama, and begged the driver to take him to hospital.

Other motorists on busy Northgate – near to Coral Windows and the Home Town Chinese restaurant – tried to intervene, one car blocking in the BMW.

Several people called emergency services and police and ambulance crews descended on the scene.

Police close off Huddersfield Ring Road

Police closed a large section of the Ring Road near to Lower Fitzwilliam Street and there were long tailbacks for drivers heading into town from Bradford Road.

The drama happened at just after 2.30pm on Friday and the road remained closed for several hours.

An eyewitness, who was in a van in the queue behind the taxi, told how the taxi was stopped at traffic lights. When the lights went green a man jumped out of the passenger side rear of the taxi and repeatedly stabbed a man in the front.

“I thought at first he was punching him but then I saw the blood,” said the witness. “The man had stab wounds to his legs and his thumb. It looked like he had tried to stop the knife with his hand and he had a very, very deep wound to his thumb.

“He was absolutely soaked in blood and was in shock.”

An eyewitness claims a man was stabbed by another passenger in this VW taxi in Northgate in Huddersfield town centre.

The male taxi driver, who was shocked but unhurt, was comforted at the scene by his partner while he waited to be interviewed by police.

He works for Huddersfield-based X Service Taxis, who later declined to comment to the Examiner.

In a statement West Yorkshire Police said: “Police were called at 14:34 to Northgate in Huddersfield to reports of a man being stabbed.

Traffic backing up on Bradford Road after earlier police incident. Pic by Carl Whitehall

“Officers were deployed along with the ambulance service and found a male with minor injuries consistent with knife wounds. Enquiries remain ongoing.”

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Huddersfield CID via 101 quoting crime reference number 13180264684 or contact Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.