A 40-year-old man has died and another was rescued from the river by fire and rescue crews near Newtown on Saturday, September 22.

Emergency services including specialist boat and drone crews were called to the scene near Aberbechan Bridge at midday where two men were in difficulty in the river.

The fire service, who sent units from four stations to the incident, say one man had managed to swim to the bank but the other died at the scene.

Local reports say the men had been canoeing on the Severn, near the Pwll Penarth Nature Reserve. Neither have yet been named.

A statement from the fire service said: "On Saturday, 22/09/2018 at 11:57am, crews from Newtown, Welshpool, Llanidloes and Aberystwyth attended an incident on the River Severn near to Aberbechan Bridge, Newtown.

"The Fire Service deployed a Swift Water Rescue Team and Drone to rescue two male casualties from the river.

"One male was able to self-rescue from the river. Tragically, a second male casualty was removed from the water by firefighters but died at the scene.

"The Police and Ambulance Service were also in attendance. The Fire Service left the incident at 03:06pm."

A further statement from the police said the death was not being treated as suspicious.

"At 11.50am on Saturday (Sept 22) Dyfed-Powys Police received a report of a canoeist facing difficulty at Pwll Penarth Nature Reserve, near Newtown.

"Sadly, a 40-year-old man died at the scene. His next of kin and H.M. Coroner have been informed. Our thoughts are with his family. The death is not being treated as suspicious.”