An investigation continues after a “defenceless” elderly man was seriously injured in a suspected robbery.

Police say that the man in his late 70s was robbed of his bike, violently assaulted and pushed into Bridgewater Canal in Leigh on Saturday June 8.

Now more than two months on, officers have released an image of a man they want to speak to in connection with their investigation.

Detective Sergeant Victoria Smith, of GMP’s Wigan district, said: “The victim suffered serious injuries to his head which must have been so terrifying for him.

“He felt completely defenceless, and after being pushed into the canal, the victim was able to use all the strength he had to climb out of the canal whilst suffering from his injuries.”

An image of the bike police say was stolenAn image of the bike police say was stolen (Image: GMP)

Officers say that they were called to Bridgewater Canal at around 4.30pm that Saturday and that the elderly man needed to be taken to hospital.

He has since been recovering at home and police say that their investigation has reached a point where they can release a CCTV image.

DS Smith said: “We are now at a stage to release a CCTV image to the public of a man we wish to speak to, as we believe he could assist with our investigation.

"We understand that the CCTV image is not of the best quality but we hope in releasing the image, someone who was there at the time of the incident will come forward with information, it may just spark a memory.

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“The location is popular for dog walkers, we are appealing to anyone who may have seen something or who has any information to come forwards to us, no piece of information is too small.

“We have also released an image of the victim’s bike in the hope that someone may recognise it and he can be reunited with his bike."

Anyone with information can call police on 101 or 0161 865 7054 quoting incident number 2088 of 8/6/24. 

Reports can also be made anonymously to independent charity Crimestoppers by calling 0800 555 111.