Two people have been arrested on suspicion of carrying out a racially motivated attack that left a woman in a critical condition in hospital, police have said.

The 39-year-old woman was heading towards a bus stop in Bolton with her two young daughters and her 15-year-old son on Sunday afternoon when she was attacked.

Greater Manchester police said on Monday evening they had arrested a 28-year-old man on suspicion of racially aggravated grievous bodily harm and racially aggravated assault, and a 26-year-old woman on suspicion of racially aggravated common assault.

Both were arrested in the Breightmet area of the town and remain in custody for questioning. Neither has been named.

Police said they believe a male passerby made comments to the son that led to a verbal altercation in Padbury Way, Breightmet.

The attacker is alleged to have used a racial slur before he struck the teenage boy and then assaulted the woman when she attempted to intervene.

The family later boarded a bus but got off in Deepdale Road when the mother became unwell and emergency services were called. She was taken to hospital with a head injury as her condition deteriorated. She remained in a critical but stable condition on Monday after she had surgery.

DI Ian Partington of Greater Manchester police said: “This was a despicable, unprovoked assault on two innocent members of the public in front of young children. There is absolutely no place for this in our community. We treat all hate crimes extremely seriously and are following several lines of inquiry to trace the offenders.

“We are also continuing to work with partners to address any concerns in the Breightmet community. The mother remains in a stable condition and we will hopefully see her improve over the coming days.”

Anyone with information is urged to call police on 0161 856 5757 quoting incident number 1722 of 03/06/18 or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.