A 16-YEAR-OLD Blackpool girl is critically ill on a life-support machine after being battered about the head in the early hours of Monday.

Police are appealing for witnesses while still questioning a 21-year-old man, brought to Blackpool from Swansea on Tuesday.

The victim, whose name has not been released, was found at about 1am bleeding and unconscious in an alley to the side of St Paul's Medical Centre, between Dickson Road and Egerton Road, behind the Stakis Pembroke Hotel.

It is believed the girl, 5ft 4ins tall with shoulder-length strawberry blonde hair, had earlier been in Lineker's nightclub in Blackpool town centre, and then set off to make her way towards the Pembroke Hotel.

She was wearing a grey sweatshirt with a Kickers logo and jeans, carrying a white plastic bag and white small rucksack.

Police need information from anyone who may have seen her, particularly when she was walking along the promenade.

Det Insp Mike Barton said: "Shortly after the attack, a white male, described as in his 20s or early 30s, 5ft 10in to 6ft tall, wearing a green open-necked shirt and light-coloured trousers, was seen running north along Dickson Road, towards Gynn Square.

"His hair was possibly blond, short at the sides and longer on top, and he was of an athletic build with broad shoulders.

"I would ask, if anyone saw him, to contact the police."

Meanwhile the girl, who has left school, is fighting for her life in Royal Preston Hospital while her family anxiously waits at her bedside.

Anyone who can help is asked to ring Blackpool police station on 293933 or the incident room on 745375.

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