POLICE involved in a stand-off with gunman Raoul Moat are understood to have used a Taser stun gun, said the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) today.

IPCC Commissioner Nicholas Long said early indications showed that police officers did not fire gunshots but did discharge a taser during the tense siege between officers and the former nightclub doorman.

Moat, 37, shot himself in the head after being surrounded by armed police in the early hours of this morning.

It followed a tense six-hour stand-off sparked when he was spotted on the riverbank in Rothbury, Northumberland.

An eyewitness said the stand off ended when police surrounded Moat and jumped on him.

Mr Long said: "Early indications show that gunshots were not fired by police officers and this will of course form part of the IPCC independent investigation. It is also understood that a police officer discharged a Taser and our investigation will also look at this.

"The IPCC has now two independent investigations. The first relates to the intelligence from the prison authorities on Mr Moat's release and the second his death.

"I have decided that there will be one investigation covering both these aspects.

"We will be examining whether correct procedures were followed by Northumbria Police and the detail of how this incident came to a conclusion.

"A full investigation will now be carried out and we will publish our findings in due course so that there is a public account answering the many questions that people will have."

Mr Long, who also sent his sympathies to the people affected by the events of the last week, said that the IPCC launched their investigations after they were contacted by Northumbria Police at 4am today.

Northumbria Police Temporary Chief Constable Sue Sim said that during the six-hour stand-off at Rothbury, officers had been striving to persuade Moat to give himself up peacefully, adding: "During this time officers discharged Taser. However this did not prevent his death."

She said it appeared Moat had shot himself dead and that no gun shots were fired by police.

Ms Sim refused to take any questions after she read the prepared statement or to elaborate about at what point the Taser was discharged.

Moat's death early today followed a manhunt that lasted almost a week after Moat's ex-girlfriend Sam Stobbart was shot and injured, her boyfriend Chris Brown was shot dead and Pc David Rathband was shot in his patrol car.

Police finally caught up with the fugitive last night on a riverbank in Rothbury and he was surrounded by armed officers.

Expert negotiators tried to persuade the former nightclub bouncer to surrender but a shot rang out at 1.15am and he was pronounced dead in hospital an hour later.