A North-East MP has called for changes in the way deaths in custody are investigated following a study.

Vera Baird QC, Labour MP for Redcar, in east Cleveland, chaired a committee which produced the study for the human rights group Liberty. The report said the system was "secretive and insufficiently independent".

It goes on to propose the reform of the inquest system and the procedures designed to decide whether to prosecute police officers and prison wardens who could be to blame for the deaths.

"The current system is marked by its ineffectiveness," said Ms Baird.