A woman is fighting for her life after being found unconscious with severe head injuries in a city centre street.

Two taxi drivers found the woman lying in the road in the early hours of this morning.

Police said she had suffered multiple fractures to her skull and described her condition as life threatening.

The woman, thought to be in her 30s, was carrying no identification and officers were today trying to identify her and contact her family.

Detective Inspector Graham Pratt, of Brighton and Hove police, said it was not known whether she had been the victim of an attack or a road accident.

She was found lying in the middle of Waterloo Street, Hove, at 3am.

The street remained closed as scenes of crime officers and specialist search teams combed the area and conducted house to house interviews.

Mr Pratt said: "We are treating this incident very seriously and have more than 20 officers investigating.

"We need to find out who this woman is so we can let her family know how seriously ill she is.

"I want to appeal to people who were in the area of Waterloo Street last night who may have seen or heard something to contact police.

"We also urgently need to speak to one of the taxi drivers who found her or anybody who was about at that time of night."

The woman was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital and later transferred to the specialist head injuries unit at Hurstwood Park Hospital, Haywards Heath.

She is described as a fair-skinned black woman, about 5ft 6in to 5ft 7in, and with short curly hair.

She was wearing a waist-length black leather jacket, green combat-style trousers, black shoes and a leather band on her left wrist.

Anybody with information should call the Operation Mulberry incident room on 0845 6070999 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.