THE family of a man left in a coma after a town centre assault say he will take months to recover.

Paul Gahan, from Darcy Lever, remains critically ill after being punched as he stood at the junction of Bradshawgate and Breightmet Street at 2am on Sunday morning.

Two offenders were seen approaching the 46-year-old, who fell backwards when he was punched and hit his head on the pavement.

Although he is now out of the coma and his condition is improving, Mr Gahan was left in a lot of pain and with no memory of the incident.

His niece, Hayley Davies, has once again asked any witnesses to come forward with any information about the attack to help police with their investigation.

She said: "There have been no updates at the moment. Although he's out of his coma, he still remains critically ill and it will take months to recover.

"We haven't been contacted by the police since Saturday evening. If anyone has any information to give us, please do so."

Eyewitnesses told The Bolton News that they heard a "horrible noise" as the victim's head hit the ground and said there was "a lot of blood" at the scene.

One woman who was part of the group that helped Mr Gahan after he was assaulted said that he "went down like a tree" after the punch and was slipping in and out of consciousness until the ambulance service arrived.

On Sunday, Greater Manchester Police issued an urgent appeal for information and have begun trawling through CCTV of the area in a bid to catch the offenders.

Detective Sergeant Iqbal Ahmed said: "We are going through CCTV from the night and there were lots of people around at the time of the incident.

"This man is very poorly in hospital so I would ask if anyone saw what happened or knows anyone who may have been involved to call police urgently."

Anyone with information should call police on 0161 856 1372 (between 7am and 11pm), 101, or the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.