A BURGLAR has died after falling 60ft from the four-storey building he is believed to have been raiding.

The 35-year-old lost his fight for life at 10.30am yesterday after suffering severe head injuries when he fell from the top-floor window of a designer clothes shop.

Police were called to the incident outside Bertie's store, in Stockton's High Street, at about 8pm on Saturday when a member of the public reported seeing two men falling from the window.

When officers arrived at the scene, they discovered the 35-year-old had suffered a serious head injury and a 22-year-old man, who had apparently landed on his partner, had suffered an injury to his arm.

Last night, Cleveland Police said they could not release the identity of the dead man until all relatives had been informed of the fatal accident.

Both men were taken to the University Hospital of North Tees, in Stockton, where the 35-year-old later died.

Inspector Paul Pickering said: "The incident appears to be the result of an unfortunate accident as the males were exiting the premises.

"We believe that they had burgled the premises - although this is still being investigated.

"We don't know if the alarm went off and scared them, and then they have jumped, or they have fallen from the window. That is being investigated. We don't know if one has grabbed the other as he fell, although one does appear to have landed on top of the other."

The 22-year-old man remains in hospital under arrest and will be questioned by officers once he has been discharged.

Insp Pickering said his injuries were not serious.

Wayne Baister, the owner of Bertie's, was unavailable for comment last night.

Police are hoping any witnesses who were in Stockton High Street at around the time of the incident will contact them with information.

The area would have been busy at 8pm.

Anyone who witnessed the incident is asked to contact Cleveland Police on (01642) 326326.

* Leading detectives from three North-East police forces are in Middlesbrough today to discuss the problem of retail crime in the region.

Cleveland Police are hosting the conference, which is to be attended by senior detectives from neighbouring Durham and Northumbria, as well as organisations involved in the North-East Retail Crime Partnership.

The aim of today's Northern Retail Crime Management Forum is to formulate initiatives to target, disrupt, arrest and prosecute as many of those responsible for the upsurge in retail crime.

Police have already been warning people across the region to take extra precautions with the onset of the darker nights, which usually result in a rise in crime, especially burglaries and opportunist thefts.