Pc dies in wakeboarding accident

The officer was wakeboarding off Dinas Dinlle beach

Tributes have been paid to a police community beat officer who died while wakeboarding at a north Wales beach.

Pc Stephen Nesfield died after falling from the board being towed by a water bike at Dinas Dinlle, near Caernarfon.

The officer, who was 48 and from Waunfawr, was understood to be enjoying a day out when the accident happened around 1700 BST on Monday.

Senior officers said Pc Nesfield, who worked at Penygroes, was "a gentleman and a true community officer".

Pc Nesfield was said to have been at the beach with family and friends when the accident happened.

He was on the single board being towed by the water bike when the driver saw he had fallen into the sea.

He was very popular with his colleagues and will be sorely missed Ch Supt Gareth Pritchard

The officer was brought to the shore and taken by ambulance to hospital in Bangor where he was pronounced dead.

North Wales Police said the incident was not being treated as a criminal matter.

Ch Supt Gareth Pritchard, commander of the force's Western Division, said Pc Nesfield was the community beat manager in Penygroes for a number of years. He was well-liked and respected within his area, he said.

"He was very popular with his colleagues and will be sorely missed. Our thoughts this evening are with his family."

No inquest will be held into the death of PC Nesfield, as he is believed to have died from natural causes.

Wakeboarding is a surface water sport similar to water skiing but with a single board instead of skis.