A Roman Catholic priest was brutally attacked as he walked back to his hotel in Crawley, police said today.

The clergyman from Northamptonshire needed emergency surgery following the assault in the centre of Crawley on Easter Sunday.

Detectives are now trying to find out what happened in the four hours between when the man, who has not been named, left his hotel and when he was found slumped in a shop doorway in the early hours the next day.

Officers are desperate to trace witnesses to the assault as the victim is still unable to recall fully what happened.

He has only just remembered being attacked. For days, police thought he had simply collapsed on the street.

Today police said the victim, who was planning to fly from Gatwick to the USA for a funeral on Easter Monday, had remembered being the victim of a "vicious assault", but could not describe his attacker.

He was found in the entrance of Mothercare in Haslett Avenue at 3.15am on Easter Monday.

It is known the priest left the George Hotel at around 11pm and walked to the town centre towards Branningans bar believing it was an Irish pub. But he turned back when he realised it was a nightclub.

It is at that point police believe he was attacked and left for dead on the pavement. It is thought he managed to crawl to Mothercare where he fell unconscious.

An exploratory operation carried out at Crawley Hospital when his condition deteriorated revealed he had been badly beaten.

Part of his bowel had to be removed. His condition is stable but serious.

Due to his condition detectives are still unable to interview him.

They have called for witnesses to come forward including a member of the public who found the man and dialled 999.

Detective Constable Andy Richardson, leading the investigation, said: "This is a very unusual and what appears to be unprovoked attack on a priest in his fifties who was simply walking back to his hotel."