London’s latest murder victim begged to see his wife after he was stabbed when leaving a pub in a leafy suburb, according to a witness who gave first aid.

A suspect has been arrested after the victim, a man in his 60s, was attacked in Southall, in the north west of the capital, on Saturday evening.

Raj Grover, who lives nearby, said he was about to go to his own surprise 41st birthday party when the victim knocked at his door with stab wounds.

“He was ringing our doorbell,” he told PA news agency.

“He rang the bell and I went out, my son was there, he was shouting ‘dad, come out’.

“I went downstairs and saw he (the victim) was full of blood, and then I was running to pick up a towel.

“I put the towel on and I was pressing to stop the blood, then my wife came out, we called the ambulance and the police.”

Scotland Yard said police were called at about 6.41pm and the victim was treated by paramedics and air ambulance crews, but died at the scene.

A man in his 30s was arrested on suspicion of murder and is in hospital under police guard, being treated for minor injuries, a spokeswoman said.

Mr Grover, who runs a local property business, said that as they waited for emergency services, the man told him: “Just call my wife.”

He remained with the victim for about 30 to 40 minutes before leaving to go to his party, after emergency services took over.

“(He was) just saying, ‘I’m losing it’, I said, ‘don’t worry, stay with us’,” said Mr Grover, who lives several door away from the victim’s house.

“The wife was there, she was very nice, she was very calm. She said, ‘it’s okay, an ambulance will be coming soon’.

“His wife, she mentioned he went to the pub, I don’t know what happened in the pub just around the corner, he came back, was on his way back and somebody stabbed him twice, stabbed him two times with a knife on the stomach and on his side.”

He added: “(The stabbing) was on the beginning of our street. He was walking with the blood drops all around the street and he walked to our house.

“God bless him, he was a very nice gentleman.”

Mr Grover said he knew the man as a neighbour who would regularly walk by and say hello when they met.

“Last year the same thing happened, next to the street,” he said, referring to a separate incident in the area. “It was my friend being shot with four bullets.”

He said his friend made a full recovery, but later moved to Dubai.

A cordon remained in place around the street late on Saturday night, and police said inquiries were ongoing.