Police are probing the discovery of a critically injured man on a Highland road in the early hours of Sunday.
Emergency services were called to the A82, near to the Cruachan Hotel on the outskirts of Fort William, just before 4am.
The 44-year-old was rushed to the town’s Belford Hospital by ambulance where it was found that he had suffered serious head injuries.
The incident occurred as hundreds of revellers were out celebrating in Fort William at the end of the hugely-popular Six Days Trial cycling event in Lochaber.
It is understood police are treating the attack as a “contained” incident, believed to have involved a group staying nearby.
Locals said last night they had seen officers questioning people at a nearby travellers’ site and at the hotel where people involved in the cycling event were staying.
One said: “The town has been really busy with the Six Days Trial’s prizegiving. There were a lot of drunk people out on Saturday night and into Sunday morning.
“We have been told the police are looking into whether the critically hurt man was assaulted or even hit by a passing vehicle which did not stop.
“It is obviously very serious given the amount of time they are taking to investigate this.
Police cordoned-off a stretch of the A82 as investigations were carried out.
Three evidence tents were erected on pavements as the road remained closed for several hours.
A spokeswoman for the Scottish Ambulance Service said: “We received a call at 3.45am on Sunday to attend an incident at an address on Auchintore Road in Fort William.
“We dispatched two ambulances to the scene and one patient was taken to Belford hospital.”
A police spokesman added: “We are currently making enquiries into a serious incident that took place in the early hours of Sunday near to the Cruachan Hotel on Achintore Road, Fort William.
“A 44-year-old male sustained a serious injury.”
Anyone who was in the area in the early hours of Sunday morning is asked to call the police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
The delays caused by the road closure prompted many people to take to social media, with one visitor on a tour bus claiming they had been stuck in traffic for four hours.