A man has died following a double stabbing with two men arrested for murder.

Officers were called to the Cricketers Inn pub in Meopham just before 9.15pm last night following reports a man had been assaulted.

They attended with paramedics where they found two men had been stabbed.

A man in his 30s was pronounced dead at the scene while another was taken to a London hospital, where he remains in a stable condition.

A 29-year-old and a 50-year-old were later arrested on suspicion of murder.

The men involved are all believed to be known to each another and, at this stage, police are not looking for anyone else in connection with the investigation.

Detectives from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate are continuing to make inquiries.

The A227 Wrotham Road was closed in both directions at Meopham Green but reopened shortly before 4pm.

Neighbours told KentOnline that the road had been closed since around 9.30pm yesterday with forensics officers on the scene this afternoon.

A Wrotham Road resident who did not want to be named said: “I only saw flashing blue lights going up and down the road.

“There was lots of marked and unmarked cars going up there.

“The first thing I knew was at 4am this morning when I woke up. I saw some flashing lights.

“It’s not one of the things you want to happen on your door step. It is a shame.”

Neighbour Michael Clark said: “We came back from our friends' house and got stuck in the queue of traffic for an hour.

“They were not letting anyone through. [It seemed like] there were hundreds of police and police cars.

“We gathered there was a major incident.”

Nearby public house The Kings Arms is also shut following the incident. The team put out a statement this morning to tell customers.

It read: "Due to unforeseen circumstances and completely out of our control we have been instructed to close our pub today whilst police investigate a crime in our village.

"This unfortunately means we cannot go ahead with today's reservations but we do look forward to welcoming you all back very soon."

'The community is understandably in a state of shock and sadness following this tragic incident'

Meopham councillors Ejaz Aslam, Frank Wardle, Denise Tirran and Gary Harding released a joint statement saying: "The news is harrowing and your ward councillors join the community in offering our condolences to the family of the deceased and our thoughts to the man recovering in hospital. We extend our thoughts to anyone who had to witness yesterday's events.

"Since the incident took place, as your ward councillors we have been briefed by the police and have been assured that they believe this to be an isolated incident with no ongoing risk to the public.

"We are grateful for the speedy and professional response of Kent Police and the emergency services and ask the community to do everything they can to support them with their investigations.

"The community is understandably in a state of shock and sadness following this tragic incident and we wanted to provide you with the reassurance that we will continue to seek updates from the police and that we are here to support our community through this."

Anyone who witnessed what happened or has any information is urged to call police on 101, quoting reference 05-1226.

You can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 or by using the online form on their website.