POLICE are treating the death of a man who is believed to have fallen from a first-floor flat as suspicious.

Michael Holey, 31, was found with multiple injuries on the pavement outside the flat on Linthorpe Road, Middlesbrough. He was taken to hospital but later died.

Police were called to the flat, above a row of shops, at about 5.30am yesterday. The window of the upstairs flat appeared undamaged, and police said it was not clear what had caused the man to fall.

A post-mortem examination was carried out at the James Cook Hospital, in Middlesbrough.

Officers conducted a detailed forensic search and a fire engine was drafted in to allow police to take fingerprints from the window, using a specialist lifting platform.

Detective Inspector Stan Drummond said: "It appears that the man may have come from an upstairs window, and at present the death is being treated as suspicious."

Local people expressed shock at the death.

A shopworker in a nearby newsagents said he had arrived at work on Sunday to see blood being cleaned from the pavement below the flat.

Another resident, who lives in the adjacent Kensington Road, said: "It's really shocking to think that has happened just round the corner. Everyone is confused, wondering what could have gone on."