Three people found dead at the base of cliffs in Devon were patients at a mental health hospital, it has been revealed.

The bodies of two men and a woman were recovered on Wednesday night from the foot of Salcombe Hills cliffs, near Sidmouth, east Devon.

The Devon Partnerships NHS Trust told the BBC that the three people were "informal patients" at the Cedars Unit, at Exeter Wonford House Hospital, which provides treatment for mental health problems.

The trust, which wants an "external inquiry" into the incident, said that these patients are free to come and go.

Group spotted

A Devon and Cornwall Police spokesman said officers searched for the three patients earlier in the day after being alerted by the hospital at about 1630 BST.

Warnings at Salcombe Hill cliff near Sidmouth

At about 1900 BST an officer at Salcombe Hill saw three people on top of the cliff.

"Within minutes they fell to their deaths at the foot of the cliff," said the police spokesman.

The spokesman said that because an officer was near the scene when they fell, the force had voluntarily referred the matter to the independent Police Complaints Authority which will oversee an investigation.

Suicide theory

The force has said they were investigating the possibility the incident was a triple suicide, and were interviewing a witness.

Post-mortem examinations are being carried out on Thursday on the two men, believed to be in their late teens or early twenties, and a woman in her late twenties.

They have not yet been named but are believed to come from the Exeter area.

Devon Partnership NHS Trust chief executive Valerie Howell said on Thursday afternoon: "We will be undertaking our own review into the very tragic incidents which have taken place."