A patient has fallen to his death from a first-floor balcony at Colchester General Hospital.

The 72-year-old man from the Colchester area was pronounced dead at about 6am yesterday after the incident outside Dedham ward.

He had been admitted to the hospital in Turner Road a few days earlier with breathing difficulties.

The coroner has been informed and an inquest will be held but the death is not being treated as suspicious. Relatives have been informed.

The hospital has launched an internal investigation.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.