Tauranga police want to hear from people that attended a party in Clive Road, Katikati on Friday night who may have information about an assault which left a man with a metal bar sticking out of his head.

'Police are very keen to speak to any person who was in the area or may have any other information in relation to the assault,” says Detective Senior Sergeant Greg Turner today.

'The investigation will only be solved with the assistance of the community.”

The 23-year-old Tauranga man was parked in Clive Road when he was approached by a woman and two men.

He was punched a number of times in the face, before being struck with an iron bar which lodged in the right side of his head.

He drove himself to the 24-hour Caltex petrol station in Katikati to seek help, and walked in supporting the bar with his hand. The service station's CCTV footage was shown on 3News on Saturday.

An ambulance and police were called, and the bar was removed at Tauranga Hospital before the victim was flown to Waikato Hospital.

Tauranga police say the offender responsible for this assault is described as a male, with olive complexion, slim build, in his early 20's with short black spiky hair. He was wearing a dark green coloured ‘T' shirt.

Today the 23-year-old remains in Waikato Hospital's neurosurgical ward in a stable condition.

Hospital officials say the man is annoyed that other media have named him, and he wishes to make no statements to media and does not want his x-ray pictures published.

'We are not 100 per cent sure what the exact scenario was,” says Katikati Caltex owner Lester Gray today.

'It was probably lucky for him he had somewhere to come, because I doubt he would have been able to drive to Tauranga.

'It's a good thing with our 24-hour site that people know there's always someone there where they can go and get help from. It's often not a profit thing to be open at night, it's more a service to the community.

'People go there because they know they can always get someone there. It's a good thing we can do in our business.”

The victim was caught on camera in the Caltex petrol station following the attack. Photo: Facebook.