INQUEST proceedings open tomorrow into the deaths of two men found dead in a fume-filled car outside a friend's home.

North Durham coroner Andrew Tweddle will open the inquest on friends Paul Williams, 38, and 32-year-old Christopher John Howe.

Mr Howe, of East Street, Blackhall Colliery, Hartlepool, was married with a young daughter, while Mr Williams lived with his fiancee and their two-year-old daughter in Hart Crescent, in nearby Blackhall Rocks.

Both worked as door supervisors in pubs and clubs in the Hartlepool area.

Their bodies were discovered in Mr Howe's Vauxhall Astra, which was found with its engine still running, in the rear yard of a friend's house, also in East Street, last Thursday, at 7.45am.

Police confirmed the deaths were not being treated as suspicious, although they have appealed for information to trace the pair's movements after they left the East Street house at 1am that day.

Tomorrow's hearing will be at County Hall, Durham, to confirm identification.