A woman has been hacked to death by a machete-wielding man in the middle of the day.

Police were called to the home in Nightingale Road, Edmonton, at 1.30 pm to reports of a stabbing in the front garden.

The woman was found in the front garden.

People living in nearby houses have been evacuated and police have taped off most of the road.

Witnesses at the scene say they saw a man in the street with a machete and others say they saw him killing cats.

Lauren Perkins, who lived on Goodwin Road, said: “I was walking down the road when I saw a man with a big knife walking down the street.

“Then I saw some police come down and they told me to get off the road.

“I just can’t believe something like that would happen. It’s just so shocking.”

The next door neighbour of the house where the attack took place, who wished not to be named, said: “I heard lots of screaming and shouting coming from next door.

“Then a guy with a knife was in our back garden. There was a lot of blood on the knife and he was just hacking away at stuff.

“It’s just unbelievable, I’m so shocked."

George Stutianou who was working on a nearby house when the attack happened said: “There were so many police here, there must have been about 30 cars.

“I saw some police smashing the doors and the windows of three houses either side to get women and children out.

“We were in the road and two policemen were running as fast as they could towards us, shouting at us to run and get out of the street. We just didn’t know what was going on.”

After police evacuated the homes armed officers arrived at the scene.

Shortly afterwards a 25-year-old man has been arrested and remains in custody.