Canadian police today made a fresh appeal for help in identifying a mystery Yorkshire man who lost his memory in a street mugging.

It is now a year since the man - who speaks with a Yorkshire accent and believes his name may be Philip - was attacked in Ontario, Canada.

Despite circulating his picture to three countries detectives admit they are no nearer to discovering his true identity.

Without a name, address and date of birth the man remains stranded in Canada - where he continues to receive support and financial help from kind-hearted locals.

The officer in charge of the case, Detective Steve Bone of Toronto Police, said: "He lived in Montreal for a while and moved back to Toronto last month.

"It's a very unusual case. The medical professionals have told us this type of memory loss can happen, but it is rare.

"It is 12 months since the attack and yet this man's identity and even minor details about his background remain a mystery.

"His picture has been widely circulated in Yorkshire and Canada but we've had absolutely no response.

"He spoke about Australia so we circulated his picture there - again no response. It must be extremely frustrating for him."

The man is believed to be in his mid 20s to early 30s and linguistics experts from Toronto University say he speaks with a middle-class Yorkshire accent.

Detective Bone said: "He believes his name may be Philip. That might not be true, but he's got used to the name now and seems content with it."

He said one possible theory was that someone living in the Yorkshire region has already recognised him but does not want to come forward.

Detective Bone said: "We are content we are not dealing with a criminal who has caused havoc somewhere.

"But there may be a relative or friend who has seen the picture and, for reasons we don't know, does not want to get in contact.

"A lot of effort has gone into this inquiry. We would love to help this man and would urge anyone with information to get in touch.

"Maybe one day someone out there will finally come forward and tell us they know who he is - but at the moment it remains a mystery."

l Anyone with information which may assist the investigation is asked to contact Detective Bone of 52 Division CIB on 001 416 808 5204.