A man has died after being stabbed in an attack outside a Cheshire pub.
Police were called to reports of a serious assault near the Hammer and Pincers pub in Widnes at 3.20pm on Sunday.
A 49-year-old man was found with serious stab wounds and died at the scene on Liverpool Road, police said.
A Cheshire Police spokesman said a 35-year-old man and 39-year-old woman had been arrested in connection with the incident and remained in custody.
Chief Inspector Simon Parsonage said: “Understandably the local community will be concerned about what has happened.
“I would like to reassure those living locally that we are doing everything we can to establish the circumstances of what has happened and extra officers will be patrolling the area overnight and into the morning to provide reassurance.
“If you have any concerns at all please speak to an officer.”
This comes as Boris Johnson announced that the government will invest £2.5 billion in creating 10,000 new prison places and expand stop and search powers.
On Sunday, the prime minister vowed to “come down hard” on crime, but shadow home secretary Diane Abbott said extending Section 60 stop and search powers is a “tried and tested recipe for unrest, not violence reduction”.
Johnson said he was determined to tackle rising levels of knife crime amid the impression of a growing “culture of insolence” among “thugs” who believed they could act with impunity.