Horrified tourists watch on as stabbing victim is airlifted to hospital in front of Nelson's Column after brutal Leicester Square casino attack

• Pictures from Trafalgar Square in London showed an air ambulance landing 
• Hundreds of tourists watched on as a stabbing victim was airlifted to hospital 
• The victim had been at the Empire Casino in nearby Leicester Square on Monday
• Police said the attacker had been arrested and was being held for questioning

This is the horrifying moment a man in his forties is airlifted to hospital in front of hundreds of tourists after a violent stabbing attack in a Leicester Square casino.

Footage posted to Twitter shows huge crowds gathering around Nelson's Column in central London as an air ambulance flies in to carry the victim to hospital. 

The victim, believed to be in his forties, was said to have been gambling at the Empire Casino in nearby Leicester Square when he was attacked at around 5pm on Monday.

Throngs of tourists could be seen taking videos and pictures as the air ambulance landed just meters from Nelson's Column

The man, said to have been in his 40s, was reportedly at the Empire Casino in nearby Leicester Square when he was stabbed on Monday

Armed police were said to have arrested a man over the incident who is currently being held for questioning. 

Police later confirmed they had recovered the weapon used soon after the stabbing took place. 

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said the incident was not believed to be terror related.

'One man arrested after man believed to be in his thirties stabbed in Leicester Square Casino,' the Metropolitan Police tweeted, 'Weapon has also been recovered.

'This incident is not terror related. Crime scene remains in place. No other reported injuries. Full condition of injured man awaits hospital assessment.'

Footage from the scene shows the helicopter landing in a narrow space in the center of the busy central London square

The victim was taken to hospital for treatment and the attacker was arrested and taken in for questioning

London has seen a massive spike in the number of violent stabbing attacks taking place on the city's streets in 2018. 

There have already been 1,296 stabbings in London up to the end of April this year, according to Met Police figures.

More than 250 knives and swords were seized across London in just one week back In February - with 283 people, many of them teenagers, were arrested.

In total, 51 people have been fatally stabbed in London since the beginning of the year.