A man remains in hospital following a “vicious” assault by a group of thugs in Finchley over the weekend.

The 25-year-old suffered a fractured skull in the attack outside the Joiners Arms pub, in Ballards Lane, at about 2am on Saturday.

A police spokesman said a “large group of people” gathered at the scene and a small number of them were involved in the assault. Another man, 24, suffered cuts and bruises.

Both of the injured were taken by ambulance to a north London hospital, where the 25-year-old remains in a serious but stable condition.

Police officers attended the scene and dealt with the incident, but no arrests were made.

Barnet CID are appealing for witnesses to contact them to help them piece together the sequence of events leading up to the fight.

Detective Sergeant Gary Redmond said: “This is a serious matter that has left one man in hospital having received substantial injuries from a vicious attack.

“I am appealing for anybody who was there or knows what happened to contact my unit to tell us what he or she saw.

“We have CCTV of the incident and a number of people have already contacted us, but a large number of people were there who have still not spoken to police.”

Anyone with information should contact police on 0208 733 4595 and quote crime reference 2419876/08, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.