​A CANOEIST pulled from the swollen River Dart on Dartmoor on Saturday evening has died.

Emergency services said the man - believed to be a 46-year-old man from the Reading area - became trapped underneath his canoe against a tree in the river near Poundsgate.

Two other canoeists from the same party had to be rescued suffering from hypothermia, having tried in vain to save their colleague.

The alarm was raised at around 4.30pm, and a Sea King rescue helicopter joined the operation, airlifting the two surviving canoeists from their remote location.

A spokesman for the fire service said the operation had been made more hazardous by the remote location and poor conditions.

Heavy rain had lashed the area during the early part of Saturday afternoon.