THE Cowley Road is a vibrant and exciting place during the day but continues to have a dangerous side to it after dark.

Last night a 20-year-old student was fighting for his life after being stabbed near the Hobgoblin pub. It came six days after a 31-year-old man had his face slashed less than 100 yards away.

The police made their usual point that violent crime in Oxford is low compared to other cities but we are seeing far too many violent incidents in the East Oxford area.

More must be done, although that is not to say police have been overly lax in the area.

A lot of work has been done and it was the force that fought hard to overturn the resistance to CCTV in the area.

And, following complaints from residents and comment from this newspaper, they have extended their patrol hours until 4am on a Thursday to combat the problems caused by a student night.

But we are seeing too many knife incidents in the area and councillor Nuala Young is quite right in demanding a review of crime and late-night drinking in East Oxford.

We don’t want to have to make the same demands in a few weeks as someone lies bleeding to death.