The central character in an incredible viral photograph of New Year’s Eve celebrations in Manchester has told the M.E.N: “I can’t remember being there”.

Mike Deveney, 47, became an internet sensation after he was captured sprawled in the street reaching for his bottle of lager outside the Arndale centre, as police dealt with another man nearby.

Mike, a dad from Newton Heath, had been for a night at Mambo’s cocktail bar near the Printworks, but says he can’t recall how he ended up on the road.

See pictures of the New Year's Eve celebrations in Manchester

Read

Read

He only remembers speaking to friend Hannah Kirby around 20 minutes later and going back to her dad’s house in Miles Platting before making his way home.

When asked about the picture being seen by millions of people across the world, Mike told the M.E.N: “I’m not really bothered about the photo, I just felt a bit daft. I heard about it about two days later.”

He added: “I remember nothing at all (about being on the floor). I remember getting up about 20 minutes later and going home with Hannah.

"We had been at the Gluepot, the pub up in Newton Heath, and then we went to Mambo’s next to the Printworks.”

Read:

Read:

Hannah Kirby, who is also in the picture, earlier revealed that Mike had been knocked over during a scuffle involving police and another reveller.

Mike says he kept a low profile on New Year’s Day and didn’t hear about the photograph until it had gone viral on Saturday.

The image, taken by freelance photographer Joel Goodman, was seen by people as far away as Australia and the US.

Photoshoppers had a field day with the street scene on Twitter, superimposing Mike on Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam.

Download our new app for Apple and Android devices