A man has been pronounced dead following a huge emergency services response in a town centre this morning.

Police were called to Woodnesborough Road, Sandwich, at 9am following concern for a man in the area.

KentOnline reported earlier how police cars and fire crew had been pictured at the scene.

They were parked up along Woodnesborough Road, where The Ropewalk and The Butts pathways meet.

One resident told KentOnline she saw police divers nearby and feared "something tragic" had happened.

A waterway runs alongside The Ropewalk and The Butts.

Police have now confirmed a man in his 50s was pronounced dead at the scene.

In a statement released this afternoon, the force said: "Kent Police was called to Woodnesborough Road, Sandwich, at 9am on Tuesday following concern for a man in the area.

"Officers attended along with South East Coast Ambulance Service and Kent Fire and Rescue Service and a man in his 50s was pronounced deceased at the scene.

"The death is not currently being treated as suspicious and a report will be prepared for the coroner."

A woman in the town, who did not want to be named, told KentOnline: "By the time I came across the scene there were three police cars and a fire engine.

"The area was cordoned off.

"I didn't know what had happened but when I saw the fire engine I thought someone had burnt all the clothes in the nearby clothes bank."

Another woman said: "I had seen emergency services vehicles fly past my house.

"I have never seen so many police in Sandwich since when that young woman was murdered last year."

She explained she was referring to the case of Sarah Everard, killed by serving policeman Wayne Couzens in March 2021.

The centre of Sandwich was one of the East Kent areas searched by police at the time.