Park cordoned off as man's body recovered from river

Emergency services were called to Victoria Park, Stafford shortly after 9.30am on Monday where they recovered the body of a man from the river.

Two ambulances, two paramedic officers, the Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) at West Midlands Ambulance Service and the Midlands air ambulance from Cosford were sent to the scene, with the first resource arriving in five minutes.

Ambulance staff immediately began administering advanced life support but despite their best efforts, he could not be saved.

Stafford Police are working to establish the cause of his death, with no suspicious circumstances found at this stage.

A spokesperson for West Midlands Ambulance Service said: "We were called to reports of a patient in the water at Victoria Park in Stafford at 9.33am.

"On arrival, crews found a man who was pulled from the water and ambulance staff immediately began administering advanced life support but sadly, despite everyone’s best efforts, he could not be saved and was confirmed dead at the scene."

An area of the park was cordoned off with forensic teams spotted on site.

A Stafford Police spokesperson said: "We’re investigating a sudden death in Stafford. We were called at 9.35am this morning to reports of a body in the water at Victoria Park, Tenterbanks.

"A man’s body was recovered from the water and he was sadly pronounced dead at 10am.

"We've cordoned off the area whilst we work to establish the circumstances leading up to his death.

"We’re currently treating the death as unexplained and no suspicious circumstances have been found at this stage.

"Anyone with information is asked to get in touch by calling 101, quoting incident 198 of 26 June or by messaging us using Live Chat on our website. To report anonymously, call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111."

Police lifted the cordon at about 4.40pm.