Residents today spoke of their shock after a man was fatally stabbed on a playing field in Shrewsbury.

The incident happened on the Monkmoor Recreation Ground last night and has left the close-knit community reeling from the tragic news. The victim, named locally as Scott Cooke, died from his injuries after being taken to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital by paramedics.

Mayor of Shrewsbury Tony Durnell, who represents the Monkmoor ward on Shropshire Council, knew Mr Cooke and said he was deeply shocked by his death.

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He said he had received a number of phone calls following the incident.

“I knew him as he was around and about and he was one of the guys that hung around with friends of my neighbours,” he said.

“It is shocking. This is a close-knit community and when something like this happens it is tragic. I just hope people, and young people in particular, will realise knives are dangerous.

“One mistake and one error affects the lives of many other people. It will affect near enough the whole community of Monkmoor.”

Councillor Durnell said he believed Shrewsbury was generally a safe place to live.

“A young life has been lost and somewhere somebody felt it necessary to carry a knife with them,” he said.

One of Mr Cooke’s school friend paid tribute to him. Daniel Jones, 23, from Crowmere Green said he and Mr Cooke went to Belvidere School in Shrewsbury.

He said: “I last saw him a couple of weeks ago I talked to him on the street. I am really gutted at what has happened. I found out through Facebook last night.”

People nearby today spoke of their shock.

Donna Phillips, who lives next to the entrance of the Recreation Ground on Monkmoor Road said she nothing like this had happened in the area before.

She said: “I didn’t hear anything at the time but family members on Facebook told me what had happened. I knew of his family. This is generally a quiet area, it is quite shocking.”