A 16-year-old Birmingham boy was stabbed to death after a row over a £10 note, a neighbour said today.

The boy, named locally as Ashley Horton, was stabbed in the leg at an address in south Birmingham yesterday. He died last night in hospital at about 10.30pm.  A 29-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder and is being question by police.

A teenage friend of Ashley's said: "He had a fight the day before. He owed them a tenner - they stabbed him for a tenner."

The scene of the stabbing in Tern Grove, Hawkesley, was cordoned off by police today and a large white forensic tent was erected in the garden. Several floral tributes have been placed against the burnt garden fence.

Jenny Farley saw paramedics stretcher the boy out of the boarded-up end-of-terrace property on the council estate.  She said: "I was visiting an elderly person in the bungalow opposite when I heard all the commotion and saw the police.

"I saw them take the boy out of the house on a stretcher. He was lying flat on his back with a mask on his face."

Ms Farley, of Wansbeck Grove, said the house had been repossessed by estate agents and been boarded up and abandoned for months.

"Kids are always hanging about the back garden, and have set fire to the fence," she said. "But this is normally not too bad an area."

Ashley's teenage girlfriend fled the scene of the stabbing "covered in blood" neighbours said.

Mrs Yvonne Hearne, 60, said: "I live next door to where all this happened but I was out shopping at the time. When I got back the police came round to see what I knew.

"Everyone has been talking about it. Apparently his girlfriend who lives a few doors away was there. She ran home covered in blood and crying. The poor girl must have been petrified. She is only a teenager herself.

"Her dad thought it was her who had been stabbed at first, there was that much blood. There has been nothing but trouble at the back of that house ever since it was repossessed.

"Kids are always out there throwing bricks and setting fires. I had to call the fire brigade when they set fire to the two sheds."

Another neighbour, who did not wish to be named, added: "There were a few of them there, including his girlfriend. She saw it happen.
"I have seen her putting flowers down today. It is tragic, he just seemed like a normal lad."

Attached to a bouquet of lilac flowers laid just yards from the forensic police tent, was the message: "To Ashley, I miss you loads and I will always love you no matter what. Love Danni x x x"

Another message read: "To Ashley, I miss you so much - you were a best mate."