AN Elland man found badly hurt in a York street remains critically ill in hospital.

Mystery still surrounds how 42-year- old Andrew Hickox ended up lying unconscious in a pool of blood in the historic city in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Police - who today released a photograph of Mr Hickox - revealed he had been drinking in Yates' Wine Lodge in the city with three friends.

He is thought to have left the pub at around 1am, but was found 15 minutes later at the entrance to an alleyway at nearby Lower Friargate with serious head injuries.

He remains critically ill in York District Hospital.

Detectives believe he had been attacked, but have not completely ruled out the possibility that he fell or was involved in a road accident.

The detective leading the investigation, Det Supt Javad Ali, said: "We understand he was talking to a group of four men in Yates', but there is no suggestion there was any kind of altercation or unpleasantness.

"We are keen to speak to anyone who was in that pub, especially those four men."

Police revealed today that Mr Hickox travelled to York on Saturday and met up with three friends from Halifax who had been playing golf there.

The group were staying at a guesthouse in York and went into the city centre at about 9.30pm.

Another senior police officer on the case, Det Chief Insp Neil Thewsey, said: "Andrew is not a clubber, so he wasn't going to spend the whole night with his friends.

"They were staying in a guest house and he had his dog with him, so his friends were expecting him to go back and see to the pet."

Andrew's uncle, David Hickox, of Halifax, said: "Andrew is a very nice lad. He's a quiet family man and we are all in shock."