The victim, named locally as Dale Robertson, died in hospital after a confrontation on Parson Cross, a large council estate in the north pof the city.

A police spokesman said last night that a post-mortem examination revealed the victim died as a result of stab wounds to the chest.

The incident happened on Saturday night and the presence of a large gang in the Rokeby Drive area alarmed residents to the extent that police were called by one who did not even realise there had been a serious stabbing.

Police have not officially released an identity for the man but it is understood he was visiting the area to attend a birthday party.

Three youths, one aged 16 and two aged 17, have been arrested and last night remained in custody as officers worked to piece together details of the incident.

So far the force will say only that they were called around 11pm and believe there had been a disturbance outside a house.

Yesterday, a large section of the street remained cordoned off as police experts began a painstaking search for possible evidence.

One resident told the Yorkshire Post: "I called the police because there was such a big gang in the street.

"We have trouble around here with kids anyway, but this was really big. We turned the television down to listen and went upstairs to have a look because we couldn't see much from downstairs.

"There was a really big group in the street and it was very noisy.

"This morning we could not even leave the house to go to church , because it was a crime scene."