After 50 years police are still hunting the angry man who called at a Bury garage the day before a murder

Just over fifty years ago a mechanic was found with fatal head wounds in the backstreet workshop of his garage. Tom Hewitt, 30, had been struck with an iron bar and died the next day at Salford Royal Hospital.

Twice in the two weeks before his murder an "angry" and "agitated" man had been seen at the premises in Bright Street, Bury, asking for Mr Hewitt. But his killer has never been found.

Mr Hewitt was discovered by co-owner of the garage, Ian Cotterell, at 11.30am on Friday September 6th 1974. Over the decades the case has been reviewed by police and Mr Hewitt's son, Paul, has appealed for help to identify the culprit.

But Greater Manchester Police are now offering a £50,000 reward for information which leads to a conviction.

The weekend of Mr Hewitt's death The Osmonds topped the UK charts with Love For A Reason, and other top ten hits included When Will I See You Again by The Three Degrees, and a re-release of Jimmy Ruffin's What Becomes of the Broken Hearted. Harold Wilson was seven months into his second term as Prime Minister.

The Detective Sergeant tasked with the investigation was the late Jim Paterson who went on to become a Detective Chief Superintendent investigating some of the most notorious cases in the region. But he could not crack the case of Tom Hewitt's murder.

However police have not given up on the case. Martin Bottomley, head of GMP's Cold Case Unit, said: "Regardless of the passage of time, we are committed to following all lines of enquiry so that we can bring Tom's killer to justice. We are continuing to appeal for any information the public may have as to who is responsible for this tragic murder.

"Someone close to the killer would have suspected a friend or a family member at the time