POLICE searched through a maze of back streets last night looking for a witness to a possible murder.

A week after market stallholder Kalvant Singh plunged to his death from a brothel window, officers were looking for anyone who might have slipped through their net of house-to-house inquiries.

"People are creatures of habit - someone might be passing through, a taxi driver, someone out for an early morning jog, a night shift worker coming home or going out to work,'' said Detective Superintendent Mark Braithwaite, the man in charge of the "suspicious death'' inquiry centred on 45 Errol Street, Middlesbrough.

Officers remained at the hospital bedside of the tenant of the house, Michael Moody, 54, at the weekend, hoping the unemployed builder would regain sufficient strength to tell them what happened.

He was discovered by his daughter, semi-conscious and with severe facial injuries in a rear living room of the house.

Detectives responding to her 999 call found Mr Singh's body lying in the backyard, immediately underneath a shattered first floor window.

Police stopped passers-by in Errol Street, adjoining Waterloo Road and adjacent Park Lane and Park Vale Road.

They have been "encouraged'' by the response received from public appeals for help.

Speaking before the start of the operation, which was due to run until 9am today, Det Supt Braithwaite said: "We have had some information; some useful information about the activities and goings on at 45 Errol Street, enabling us to build up a picture in the days leading up to August 6."

Anyone with information should contact the police on (01642) 303188 or 303189 or in confidence on (07799) 993851.