A MAN has been charged with attempted murder after a stabbing at a flat in Hove.

A 32-year-old man is in a critical condition after the incident in Wilbury Gardens yesterday.

Police said they were called to a flat in the property at around 12.30am and the casualty was taken to hospital by air ambulance.

​Stephen Cochran, 41, of Wilbury Gardens, Hove, was arrested yesterday and was today charged with the attempted murder. He appears at Brighton Magistrates' Court today. 

Police said the men were known to each other. 

Neighbours reported hearing a helicopter circling the area above the street and over nearby roads. The air ambulance is thought to have eventually landed on Hove Recreation Ground.

Some Wilbury Gardens residents said they heard crying and screaming and cries for help coming from the house.

One said: “I heard a few noises but wasn’t sure what was going on. There was one point I was sure I heard someone yelling ‘Help! Help!’ and then the police and ambulance arrived.”

Another said: “Our dogs usually bark at the slightest hint of noise but not last night – we didn’t hear anything and didn’t know something had happened until we were visited by police officers and saw the cordon.”

A resident of nearby Newtown Road, said: “The helicopter was buzzing around for quite some time in the night and it kept us awake.

“We saw the emergency services arrive and then it went quiet.”

The property remained cordoned off yesterday with a police van parked outside and uniformed officers guarding the scene.

The house is understood to be split into four two-bed flats worth around £400,000 each and sits in a street with two care homes and a score of million pound residences.