Officers cleared on drowning man

The man's body was recovered from the river by divers

Three constables who were at the scene when a man drowned in Devon will not be investigated over their actions.

Witnesses said police officers should have acted more quickly when a man drowned in the River Exe on Tuesday.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has cleared the officers of wrongdoing.

The incident happened after police constables asked the man, who had been reportedly acting in a rowdy manner, to leave the area.

'Reasonable' actions

The man then plunged into the river with a number of other people who were swimming, but he then disappeared under the water.

The man's body was recovered from the river by police divers.

The river is about 50m (164ft) wide at the quay with a varying depth of up to 15m (50ft) and a strong undertow in places.

The IPCC ruled that the officers' actions were "reasonable" and "proportionate" in the circumstances.

An IPCC spokesman said: "We are confident that the officers acted appropriately and as such this needs no further IPCC involvement."

Some onlookers said the police's response was slow, but Sgt Steve Tovagliari, chairman of the Devon and Cornwall branch of the Police Federation, said officers had acted "above and beyond" their call of duty.

Assistance called

He said: "The man walked away from them and went for a swim in the river with a number of other people.

"As soon as the officers realised he was in difficulty, one of the officers went into the water to try to assist him.

"They went above and beyond the call of duty because the force's policy is not to go into the water.

"At the same time, assistance was called for from experts within the force, like the divers."

National police guidelines advise officers not to enter the water if they cannot see the person who is in trouble in case they put themselves in danger.

The force said all its officers were trained in life saving and had helped to save 30 people from potentially life-threatening incidents last year.

It also worked with the RNLI to train officers and had a team of specially-trained divers to help with underwater searches.

A spokesman said the force worked closely with the other emergency services who were fully equipped and trained to deal with water-related incidents.