Peter Jopling died in hospital

Peter Jopling died in hospital after being found at Decades nightclub, in Consett, County Durham, in the early hours of Sunday.

Detectives said his death followed a disturbance at the club in which two men had been asked to leave.

Mr Jopling, 40, of Cutler’s Avenue, Consett, was a father-of-three and leaves a wife, Gemma.

He had worked for Kelco Security, in the Front Street nightspot, for more than six years.

Sonny Gill, from G Gill Leisure, which owns Decades, said: “On behalf of my family and all of the staff, we would like to send our most sincere condolences to the family and friends of Peter.

“He was a well-respected member of the team and will be sadly missed.”

A post-mortem examination was carried out yesterday to determine the cause of death, but the results have not yet been made public.

Yesterday morning, police arrested a 34-year-old man, from Consett, and a 33-yearold man, from nearby Blackhill, in connection with Mr Jopling’s death.

It is understood paramedics were called to Decades at about 3.30am on Sunday after reports a member of staff had collapsed inside the premises.

When they arrived, Mr Jopling was in pain, but conscious and able to talk.

He was taken by ambulance to the University Hospital of North Durham, Durham City, to be assessed, but his condition quickly deteriorated. Mr Jopling was pronounced dead shortly before 5am Police have confirmed there was a disturbance inside the club, but at present they are unable to say if this was linked to Mr Jopling’s collapse about ten minutes later.

Detective Chief Inspector Paul Goundry said that at 3.30am there were still a number of people in Decades and asked anyone who saw anything to ring police 0345-60-60- 365, or Crimestoppers, on 0800-555-111.