A murder investigation has been launched after a 'bubbly' 22-year-old man has died after an assault.

Police were called to reports of a fight where they found 22-year-old Ryan David Harvey from Walsall, was found with a serious head injury on Central Drive in Blackpool at 5.33pm on Saturday.

Ryan was taken to Royal Preston Hospital for treatment however he never recovered and was pronounced dead yesterday morning (June 28).

In a tribute, Ryan’s family said: “A family has lost their little boy due to an incident that happened on Saturday in Blackpool.

“Our little Ryan was a bubbly lad who would do anything for anyone. Ryan was a lifelong Walsall FC fan who lived and breathed football.

“We are absolutely heartbroken and would appreciate some privacy at this time to grieve for our loss.”

An investigation into how Ryan came about his injury which caused his death has been launched.

A 32-year-old man from Fleetwood has this afternoon (June 29) been arrested on suspicion of murder. He remains in custody at this time.

Detectives would like to thank members of the public for assisting in identifying two people in CCTV stills released as part of a previous appeal. The woman in the CCTV is not considered a suspect in the matter.

Paul Atherton, 36, from Knowsley Crescent, Thornton Cleveleys, has since been charged with Section 18 Wounding, Section 47 Wounding, two Section 39 Assaults and possession of an offensive weapon in a public place.

He appeared before Blackpool magistrates on Monday and was remanded into custody.

Temporary DCI Rach Higson, of the Force Major Investigation Team, said: “This altercation has led to a young man losing his life and my thoughts are very much with Ryan’s family and friends at this time.

“We have a dedicated team of officers assigned to this investigation and we are determined to establish exactly what occurred and identify everybody involved.

“Although we have now made two arrests our enquiries are very much ongoing. I would ask anybody with information or CCTV, dashcam or mobile phone footage which could assist our enquiries to come forward as soon as possible.

“This happened on a busy street in the middle of the day where there were lots of people and traffic around.”

Anyone with information or footage is asked to email forcecontrolroom@lancashire.police.uk or call 101, quoting log number 1127 of the June 25.