Man drowns swimming in river during heatwave

A man has drowned swimming in a river during the Bank Holiday heatwave, police have confirmed.

Emergency crews were called to the River Trent in Nottingham at 1.15pm today after the man got into difficulty shortly after entering the water.

There was a large search, with Victoria Embankment closed to traffic while underwater search teams scoured the river for the man.

His body was recovered at 3.30pm.

Sergeant Pete Shaw, of Nottinghamshire Police said: ‘Emergency services have sadly recovered the body of a man from the River Trent today, despite the best efforts of rescue teams and members of the public who helped at the scene.

‘While work is now underway to understand how the man came into difficulty, I would like to take this opportunity to highlight this case as a reminder of the devastating consequences of entering open water – regardless of whether people do so deliberately or inadvertently.

‘As in this tragic case, open water can have hidden dangers that can prove fatal and I would urge anyone who spends any time on or near open water to use this case as a devastating reminder of that – particularly during the recent warm weather we have been experiencing.’

Nicola Rose, who lives in The Meadows, said earlier: ‘There are nine fire engines, four ambulances and two police cars.

‘There is an underwater search team and more sirens are coming.

‘There are loads of flashing lights and my daughter has just seen the air ambulance landing.’