A MAN is in hospital with serious injuries following a "violent assault" in the early hours.
The 28-year-old was assaulted outside the Cottles pub, on Commercial Street, in Willington, near Crook, at about 2am on Saturday, December 22.
He was taken by ambulance to University Hospital of North Durham before being transported to Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary where he remains in a stable condition.
A 19-year-old man was arrested shortly after on suspicion of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He has been released under investigation.
Detective Constable Helen Tindale, from Bishop Auckland CID, said: “This was a violent assault which happened outside the pub.
“We would like to speak to anyone who was in the pub in the lead up to the assault, or anyone who witnessed the incident itself.”
Anyone with information should call 101, quoting incident number 65 of December 22.
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