A man has appeared in court after a coward punch incident in Christchurch at the weekend.

As first reported by chrislychmedia.com, emergency services were called to Oxford Tce at 2.30am on Saturday after a man was coward punched.

A police spokeswoman said the man hit his head on a concrete pavement and was rushed to hospital in a critical condition.

He was now in a stable condition.

A 27-year-old man was taken into custody by police after he was located on Manchester Street a short time later.

He appeared in court on Saturday charged with grievous bodily harm and will appear again later this month.