A man critically injured in a street attack was desperate to die after losing his girlfriend, his friends said today.

Michael Reynolds, 49, was heartbroken when his girlfriend Debbie, 29, died last year.

Friends of Mr Reynolds said he had become involved in a series of fights since then.

He is in a critical condition after suffering a fractured skull in an assault in Bedford Row, Worthing.

Dave Swain and Linda Elder live in a flat above Mr Reynolds' home in Friars Walk, Worthing, and the three have been friends for four years.

Mr Swain, 52, said Mr Reynolds - known as Frank - was so crushed by the death of his girlfriend he wanted to die too.

He said: "Frank really loved Debbie but he couldn't save her.

"He used to talk to me about her all the time, he felt very guilty about it. It's what he keeps saying - 'I want to die'.

"He picks fights because he doesn't want to go on living."

Mr Swain said Mr Reynolds had a paralysed arm from an injury he sustained in his Army days. He said: "We were both ex-soldiers and that's how we bonded."

Ms Elder, 29, said: "I've known him for four years but he hasn't been the same since Debbie died. It's like he wants to be punished for her death."

A passer-by found Mr Reynolds lying unconscious in Bedford Row at around 1am yesterday.

Police cordoned off the road and searched the area for a weapon.

Armed police were also drafted in to search the seafront as officers made door-to-door inquiries in Bedford Row, an historic terrace which has been converted into flats.

Mr Reynolds was taken to Worthing Hospital and later transferred to a neurological unit at Atkinson Morley Hospital, Wimbledon.

Detective Inspector Jeff Riley said it was thought he had been assaulted.

He appealed for witnesses who were in the area between midnight and 1am or who may have seen Mr Reynolds earlier that evening to come forward.