COMMUNITY members are campaigning to reopen an investigation into the death of a young man found in a river.

Andrew Bird died in September last year after falling into the River Lazy in Haverigg, not far his home in Millom.

It is believed that Mr Bird, who had Asperger's syndrome, was trying to retrieve something that had fallen into the water when he slid down the bank.

Police launched an investigation after his body was found in Haverigg Harbour but confirmed that there was nothing suspicious about his death.

Despite this judgement, Mr Bird’s family and people in the town felt that more could have been done to ascertain exactly what happened prior to his death.

Doug Wilson, deputy mayor of Millom, said: “Millom Town council was asked to make a small complaint about the police handling of the case.

“We wrote a letter of complaint saying we felt that the police had not properly investigated the circumstances of Andrew’s death.

“The police said that there were no suspicious circumstances despite that fact that there was a young man in the river who didn’t really want to be there.

“The effort into doing door-to-door inquiries and the police investigation surrounding this was inadequate and too late.

“It took place about two or three weeks after the incident.”

Cllr Wilson was then joined by two more councillors who took concerns to the police.

The report that was fed back to them mirrored the police’s initial findings so the councillors appealed once more for the case to be re-examined.

A statement from Cumbria police said: "Police can confirm that a complaint was received from Millom Town Council in relation to the police investigation surrounding the death of Andrew Bird. 

"This complaint was resolved locally, which involved a detective chief inspector meeting with members of the council to discuss their concerns and provide answers. 

"The council also received a formal letter following this meeting from the head of professional services department. 

"The council have appealed against the outcome of that resolution. 

"The appeal will be considered by a senior officer not previously involved in the resolution of the complaint."

Councillors are now awaiting the outcome of this case but are determined to continue to fight on. 

Cllr Wilson said: “The next stage if we’re not happy with the outcome is to take it to the Police Complaints Commission.”

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