TWO teenagers appeared in court yesterday charged with attacking a 47-year-old man found with head injuries in a pool of blood.

The pair, aged 15 and 17, were charged after Martin Mayor was found in an alleyway off Mercer Street in Accrington early on Saturday, April 17.

The boys, who cannot be identified because of their age, were charged on Tuesday, April 20, with wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm.

Mr Mayor was discovered in the alleyway after a night out. Police think he had been drinking at the Lamb Pub, Whalley Road.

He was taken to Blackburn Royal Infirmary, but as his condition deteriorated he was transferred to a specialist unit in Preston.

Last week he underwent an operation to remove a blood clot from his brain, and Mr Mayor is now said to be in a critical but stable condition in Royal Preston Hospital.

Friends of the boys waited outside the courtroom as the pair, from the Accrington area, were remanded in custody until Tuesday, May 25, when they will appear at Hyndburn Youth Court again for a committal hearing.

No application for bail was made and the boys will be tried at Crown Court.