EXPERTS were last night trying to discover why a North-East man fell to his death at the weekend when a parachute jump went wrong.

Detectives are hoping they can establish exactly what happened in the last minutes of the 25-year-old skydiver's life.

His body was found on Saturday morning alongside his open parachute in a farmer's field. The body was a mile away from Shotton Airfield, near Peterlee, County Durham, where he was supposed to land.

Last night, experts were working on the theory that the skydiver - who comes from Bishop Auckland, but has not been named - may have misjudged the angle of his descent.

Police have notified the Health and Safety Executive and the Civil Aviation Authority. The British Parachuting Association was helping the inquiry last night.

The jump was one of many made on Saturday from planes taking off from Peterlee Parachute Centre at the airfield.

Witnesses said the sky-diver's parachute had been deployed shortly after he jumped.

The canopy appeared to have fully opened, but as he came in to land he suddenly veered sharply away from the grass strip at the airfield where he was supposed to touch down.

A spokesman for the centre declined to comment further ahead of the investigation.

The body was found on land belonging to farmer David Hughes, who runs High Crow's Farm.

Harry Oxley, who owns the neighbouring Hare Hill Farm, at Haswell, said police had crossed his land to get to the body.

"It happened while we were out, but from what I've heard, the approach angle was all wrong as he was coming into land," said Mr Oxley.

"It had all been straightforward until then, his parachute was open.

"It's such a shock and very difficult to deal with."

Inspector Peter Foster said the investigation centred on the airfield, the aircraft, equipment used and the man's jump record. There appeared to be no suspicious circumstances.

Police are still appealing for witnesses. They urged anyone who may have seen the dive to contact them on 0191-586 2621.