POLICE are searching a churchyard after a man was attacked and later died in hospital.

Officers were called to reports that a man had been assaulted in Farnworth at around 5.55pm on Friday.

The 43-year-old was taken to hospital with fractured ribs and received treatment but died four days later.

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A police spokesman said there are suspicious circumstances but it is too early in the investigation to say whether it is being treated as a murder.

This afternoon, Tuesday June 13, police cordoned off the churchyard of St James' Church, St James Street, in Farnworth in connection with the attack.

Police confirmed that officers were searching an area at the junction of George Street and St James Street as part of the investigation.

Residents said that police were at the scene from around 9.30am yesterday morning when the cordon was put in place.

Police were calling door-to-door at houses near the church asking for information but many people who lived nearby were left in the dark about why the police were in the area.

One resident said that when he asked officers what was going on he was told there was an incident while another said police told her that it was 'nothing to be concerned about'.

Officers were stationed at both entrances to the churchyard as well as the access to a garden of a property next to the church stopping people from entering the scene.

An officer was also stationed in the garden of a house in Barton Road overlooking the church.

A police van was also parked outside a property in nearby Tennyson Road while police were also spotted in other surrounding streets.

A man who works at a shop across the from the churchyard, who asked not to be named, said: "I started at about 1pm and police were already there and it was all cordoned off.

"I don't know what happened. There's a lot of gossip and whispers flying about."

A crime scene investigation officer was at the church yard as police continued to look into the attack and the circumstances surrounding it.

The church, which opened in 1865, has been closed since 2011 and had to be secured last year after it was ransacked by vandals.

Windows were smashed, doors kicked in and gravestones were pushed over by the vandals.

At the time people were urged to keep clear of the site, which was called ‘not a safe place’ and should only be accessed by authorised persons.

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101, quoting reference number 515 of 13/06/17 or alternatively contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.