DETECTIVES investigating the death of a man in a late-night fight have named the victim as 45-year-old Wayne Shotton.

Mr Shotton, whose first name was actually Maurice but was known to everyone as Wayne, was a married father-of-two sons in their 20s.

He died after a fight took place outside the Tap and Spile pub in Darlington's Bondgate at about 11.35pm on Saturday.

Police have launched a murder-style investigation and are tonight questioning two people arrested in connection with the incident.

Detectives believe Mr Shotton's death was connected to an incident inside the premises just a few minutes beforehand.

It's thought Mr Shotton, from Berkley Road, Darlington, became involved in a dispute at the bar.

After he and two other people were asked to leave by doorstaff, the trouble flared up again on the street close to the front door of the building.

During the fracas which followed Mr Shotton received a blow to the head which caused him to fall to the ground.

An ambulance was called and paramedics tried to revive the unconscious victim, but despite their efforts he died shortly after their arrival.

A post-mortem examination carried out this afternoon at Darlington Memorial Hospital determined the formal cause of death was a haemorrahage to the brain, although further tests are to be carried out.

Mr Shotton worked at Catterick Garrison in North Yorkshire as a chef for a catering company. He used to work in this capacity at the Burtree Inn in Darlington.

A Newcastle United season ticket holder he married his second wife, Jane seven years ago. They had been to Darlington's home game yesterday afternoon following which they stayed in town for a few drinks, ending up at the Tap and Spile.

A man and a woman arrested last night in connection with the incident remain in custody at Darlington police station. The man, who is aged 34 and the woman, aged 32 are both local to the town.

Det Chief Insp Paul Harker said: "The pub was very busy on Saturday night and we have already managed to speak to a large number of customers. Over the next few days we are also going to study in detail the footage recorded on the cctv cameras in the street."

He added that detectives were anxious to speak to one potential witness in particular, a woman in her 40s described as white, petite and with shoulder-length blonde hair.

She is believed to have been near the bar in the Tap and Spile when the original argument broke out and police hope she may have heard what was said.

This customer, and anyone else with information should contact the incident room at Darlington through the non-emergency number 0845-6060-365 or they can call Crimestoppers on 0800-555111 if they wish to remain anonymous.