A man has died after falling from the back of a moving minicab.

Police were called by ambulance crews in the early hours of Sunday morning to Alexandra Avenue, at the junction with Clitheroe Avenue, in Rayners Lane.

A 26-year-old man was taken to hospital with life-threatening head injuries after falling into the road.

Police say the man died this morning and next of kin are aware. A post-mortem examination and formal identification will take place in due course.

Detectives believe he was part of a group of men and women close to a Renault Traffic minicab parked outside Dominos Pizza in Alexandra Avenue.

The cab drove away but after a short distance the driver realised the tailgate was open and a man was rolling on the road behind the vehicle.

The driver returned to the injured man and has not been arrested.

Police say they do not know how the man came to be in the minicab.

Officers want to speak to any of the group who had left the scene by the time emergency services had arrived at the scene.

Detective Sergeant Chris Osborne, of the Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: "We know this man was with a group of what appeared to be friends or colleagues moments before he was injured.

“He has now died and I would urge anyone with information to come forward so that we can establish the precise events."