POLICE are baffled over what happened to a student who was last night still fighting for his life in hospital.

Lee Walker, 22, is on a life support machine after collapsing at home with head injuries following what is believed to be a brutal beating in Skinnergate, Darlington, just after 10pm on Monday.

A police investigation has been launched, led by Detective Superintendent Harry Stephenson, with more than 40 officers working on the case.

Det Supt Stephenson last night said police needed to speak to anyone who saw what happened.

He said there was a significant number of people in the area at the time and he urged them to come forward to help police piece together how Mr Walker was injured.

Mr Walker, a Luton University student, is spending a gap year working as a telephone customer services officer at Government agency Capita, in Darlington.

On Monday, he went with three men and two women to the Barsize pub in Skinnergate, after visiting a number of other town centre pubs.

Police said one of the group - but not Mr Walker - was involved in a disturbance in Barsize, knocked over a table and was asked to leave. Mr Walker followed his friend outside and was found unconscious in the street shortly afterwards.

A friend and a stranger managed to bring him round and he later made his way home to Cockerton, where he lives with his father, Neil, who works at Cummins in the town, mother Diane and younger sister Stacey.

He was said to be behaving out of character and later collapsed.

Mr Walker was taken to Darlington Memorial Hospital but later transferred to James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, where he was critically ill last night.

Anyone who has any information is asked to phone Darlington police on (01325) 467681.