A 19-year-old man has been arrested by detectives investigating the death of a pensioner.

Police were called at around 3pm on Friday (September 10) to The Paddock, Preston following a report of an assault. Officers attended and found a man in his 80s with a facial injury. He was later taken to hospital for treatment but sadly died yesterday morning.

A post mortem examination found the cause of death to be as a consequence of his facial injuries.

A murder investigation was launched and following a number of enquiries, a 19-year-old man from Preston has today (September 12) been arrested on suspicion of murder. He is currently in custody.

Police are appealing for witnesses and asking anybody who witnessed the assault or who has any information at all that they think might help to get in contact with the police.

DCI Allen Davies, of the Force Major Investigation Team, said: “First and foremost my thoughts are with the victim’s family and friends at this extremely distressing time.

“A murder investigation is underway and while we have made an arrest our enquiries are still very much ongoing and I would ask any witnesses to please get in touch. I would also ask people to check their CCTV or dashcam footage from around the area to see if they have captured anything which could assist our enquiries.

“I appreciate this incident will cause residents a great deal of concern and we have increased reassurance patrols in the area. There are also officers carrying out door to door enquiries. If you see them in the area feel free to say hello and pass on any information you may have.”

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101, quoting log 0879 of September 10, 2021, or report it online via https://doitonline.lancashire.police.uk/