Floods and ice claim four lives

The death toll caused by the wintry weather continued to rise yesterday, as floods and icy roads claimed the lives of four people and left almost 20 injured.

Lance Tadd, 53, drowned after he fell into a swollen stream in Cullompton, Devon. Police said he had slipped off a path alongside the waterway as the area was battered by a storm. The freezing conditions also caused serious road accidents. A man and a teenager died in separate incidents in Gloucestershire and Hertfordshire after losing control of their vehicles, and a pedestrian was killed in Surrey.

Six Royal Marines heading for Afghanistan were taken to hospital after their bus crashed into a tree near Cheltenham.