The murder of a man who was was stabbed to death at a petrol station in northwest London may have been racially motivated, police say.

The random killing took place as the Pakistani man was standing at the night-pay point at a Jet garage in Cricklewood Broadway, early today.

The man, who was in his fifties, was knifed in the abdomen by a white man on the station's forecourt.

"Words were exchanged and the victim was stabbed at least once with a large kitchen type knife," police said.

While their was no clear motive, police said it was "one consideration" that the killing was racially motivated.

The victim was treated at the scene by paramedics but was later confirmed dead at the Central Middlesex Hospital.

Forensic science experts are at the scene and have been taking samples from the victim's black Mitsubishi estate and the area in front of the night pay-point where the man was murdered.

The garage was been sealed off between Kilburn and Cricklewood, opposite a Mercedes showroom and next to a fabric warehouse.

Police are interviewing staff at the station and scanning CCTV cameras at the premises and surveillance camera footage from nearby businesses for clues to the killer's identity.

The victim's next of kin are still to be informed of his death. A postmortem is likely to take place today.