INVESTIGATIONS into the death of a man whose body was recovered from the River Ouse after he is said to have fled from police have been referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct.

The man in his 20's was the fourth person to have died in the rivers around York in the past two weeks. Sharon Scott, the mother of the dead man said her son Steven O'Neill, 29, who was from the Wirral, was on a night out in York city Centre with his brother, a soldier based locally, when the tragedy happened.

Ms Scott said she could not understand how her son ended up in the river because he could not swim. She is making a formal complaint to the IOPC.

North Yorkshire Police said they were alerted by CCTV operators to suspicious activity on Kings Staith in the early hours of Saturday morning, on arrival a man ran off and a short time later entered the water. A rescue operation was mounted but he was dead when his body was recovered. All deaths where there has been police contact are referred to the IOPC for an independent investigation.

Police said yesterday they had had to warn people to stay off the parapets of bridges in the city despite the recent tragic deaths.