Police are investigating why a launch boat was not sent out to help a drowning man after he slipped and fell into the River Trent.

Dominic Sutton, 23, from West Bridgford, was walking along the banks of the river near Nottingham when he lost his footing and fell down the steps, disappearing into the water.

Two other men who were with him called the emergency services and about an hour later, fire crews pulled a body from the water.

The accident happened at about 0200 BST on Sunday 22 September, when the men were walking along the riverbank near the suspension bridge in West Bridgford.

'Communication breakdown'

Firefighters called the control room to ask for the rescue dinghy to be launched but the boat never arrived.

Nottingham police said on Wednesday that a "breakdown in communication" meant a call was never made to the supervisor of the underwater search unit.

A spokesman said: "There is some kind of communication breakdown and we are looking into what actually happened.

"We are investigating the sequence of events and why the launch boat was never called."

The identity of the man who drowned has not yet been released.

Police are appealing for anyone who might have been in the West Bridgford area in the early hours of Sunday and seen the incident to contact them.