A SOMERSET man is in a critical condition following a vicious assault while he was celebrating a stag do.

The man, identified only as Gary, and in his 50s, was punched when he tried to break up a mass brawl in Manchester city centre.

Police were called to the fight outside the Printworks venue, near Dantzic Street and Thornily Brow, shortly before 2am on Saturday (February 10).

Greater Manchester Police believe the fight involved around 15 people.

A force spokesman said: "A man in his 50s tried to intervene and was punched in the face and knocked unconscious.

"He was taken to hospital with a serious head injury where he remains in a critical condition.

"A second man, who is in his 20s, was also taken to hospital for bruising and cuts."

A 25-year-old man was arrested near to the scene on suspicion of affray and a 32-year-old woman has since been arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender. They both have been released under investigation.

Detectives are trawling through CCTV and have appealed for anyone who might have witnessed the fight but hasn’t yet spoken to police.

Detective Inspector Mark Davis, from GMP’s City of Manchester team, said: “This was a large brawl in the city centre at a time when a lot of people would be leaving bars and clubs.

“It might be that you witnessed something but didn’t think to contact police at the time. If so, please get in touch with us as soon as possible.

“Just one punch on a night out has the potential to change people’s lives and a man has been severely injured as a result.

“We also know there were lots of cars in the area and I would urge drivers to check their dash cam footage to see if there’s anything on there that could help us with this investigation.

“We also believe there might be further victims who were injured and again, I would ask you to call us too.”

Anyone with any information should call 101 quoting incident number 190 of February 10 or independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800-555111.