A man has died after he fell into the River Dart just before 8pm last night.

Brixham Coastguard was contacted with a report that just before 8pm on Sunday a man in his sixties had fallen overboard into the River Dart from his boat which was moored at the pontoon at Darthaven Marina. A major search was launched involving the Coastguard Rescue Helicopter from Portland, Police helicopter, Dartmouth and Torbay RNLI lifeboats and Coastguard Rescue Teams from Berry Head, Dartmouth and Torbay.

The man was reported not to be wearing a lifejacket although the first informant had thrown a line and two life buoys to the casualty in the water during the initial attempts to recover him.

At 9.03pm the Coastguard Rescue Helicopter located the man near Dartmouth Castle; Dartmouth RNLI lifeboat recovered the man to Lower Ferry slip Kingswear side for transfer by Ambulance to Torbay Hospital. He was later pronounced dead.

Weather conditions were described as North Easterly winds force 5 gusting to force 7 and cold.