A REWARD of £1,000 has been offered by the family of a pensioner left for dead in the street in a bid to find his attacker.

Leonard Rostron, 69, of Sedburgh Street, Burnley, was found with serious injuries on land next to Marsden Road as he made his way home from the Lanehead Workingmen's Club on May 19 at 12.15am.

At first police thought Mr Rostron's injuries could have been caused by a hit and run driver, but now they are convinced he was attacked.

The reward is for the arrest and conviction of the person responsible.

One of Mr Rostron's his sons Sean, 37, said: "Dad came out of hospital yesterday but he is still in a lot of pain and it is going to take him a lot of time to recover.

"He has had his spleen removed and part of his pancreas in an operation lasting nearly three hours. "Initially it was thought a car could be involved, but now my dad has started recalling things.

"He says he can vaguely remember meeting someone, maybe even someone he knew, and that is the last thing he can remember.

"We are sure that person attacked him and we are appealing for anyone who was in that area at the time to contact the police with any information that might help them find out who did this."

Mr Rostron was in the intensive care unit at Burnley General Hospital for two days after the attack.

He is married to Vera and has five sons and three daughters.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Burnley CID on 01282 425001.

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