DETECTIVES probing the murder of a North Yorkshire man are still searching for a motive and are appealing to villagers for help.

Mystery surrounds the death of David Williamson, which police this week confirmed is the subject of a murder hunt.

Further examinations by medical experts revealed he had died from a severe blow to the back of the head, probably with a blunt instrument.

Mr Williamson, 57, was found on a roadside path at 5.30am on Monday last week, a few hundred yards from his home in Sutton-on-the-Forest, near Easingwold.

He had been in the Star Inn, Huby, on the Sunday the day before he was found near a local landmark known as Bentley's or Hardy's shed.

Villagers are baffled as to why anyone would want to hurt Mr Williamson and, without a motive having been found, a number of rumours have been spreading through the area.

On Thursday, Acting Detective Inspector Kevin Ross, one of two officers leading the inquiry, appealed to the people of Sutton-on-the-Forest and Huby to "search their minds and their consciences" in the quest for new information.

Police are keen to trace the occupants of a dark coloured vehicle seen parked near spot where Mr Williamson was found, at about 11.30pm on Sunday last week.

A 27-year-old local man who was arrested and questioned by police last Saturday and later released on bail is due to report back to York police station on May 3.

Updated: 10:40 Saturday, April 07, 2001