AN off-duty police officer who was stabbed when he confronted a gang of youths tampering with cars was in hospital last night after emergency surgery.

PC David Myers, 31, a Metropolitan police officer, was visiting relatives in Hartlepool when he spotted a group of youths gathered round a neighbour's car.

PC Myers, a single man, who is awaiting transfer to Cleveland Police, went to talk to the youths and was attacked.

He was stabbed with a weapon, thought to be a screwdriver-like implement, and left in a pool of blood as the gang fled on foot.

Now recovering in University Hospital, Hartlepool, his condition is described as comfortable. Last night, PC Myers' mother was believed to be at his bedside.

The stabbing reflects a North-East trend that has seen the number of attacks on officers increase by more than 50 per cent in recent years.

Residents in and around Marlborough Street, where the attack happened late on Monday night, say they are increasingly worried about street crime in Hartlepool.

PC Myers, who joined the Met about five years ago, had been visiting his widowed mother, Dorothy, at the terraced home he grew up in.

She was visiting his sister Debbie, who lives in Newcastle, at the time of the attack.

Mrs Myers' neighbour, 25-year-old Andrew Harvey, described how, after answering the door to a take-away delivery man, he saw PC Myers staggering after being stabbed.

Mr Harvey said: "I looked round the corner and saw David trying to get into his house.

"He had a white T-shirt on but most of it was red with blood. He'd been stabbed in the shoulder and I think further down as well. He was still coherent and said he had seen some kids trying to get into a car. I can't believe he was stabbed for doing something courageous."

Another neighbour, Jessie Booth, 79, said: "I was talking to him an hour before and he told me how much he loved his job and that he was due to start work on the beat in Redcar.

"It comes to something when he travels here from London, where all kinds of things can happen, and he's attacked in his own street."

Detective Superintendent Steve Swales, of Hartlepool CID, praised the actions of PC Myers, currently based in Ilford, Essex.

He said: "This is an appalling attack on a young man who was simply doing his duty.

"I understand PC Myers is awaiting transfer to the Cleveland Force. He demonstrated all that is good about the police service."

Four people, aged between 16 and 21, have been arrested and were being interviewed last night