EVENTS leading up to the death of a man who drowned two days after being released from police custody are being investigated, an inquest has heard.

The dead man was this week named as Gary Neill, aged 48, who had been sleeping rough on the streets of Glastonbury at the time of his death on December 29.

Mr Neill's body was spotted in the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal off Charlton Road, Creech St Michael, by a member of the public shortly before 9am.

An inquest in Taunton on Monday heard that he had been released from police cells two days before and that he had been treated at Taunton's Musgrove Hospital on December 28.

Post mortem tests showed he had drowned and toxicology tests are currently being carried out.

The inquest was adjourned until later this year. 

Mr Neill's body was recovered from the canal by divers from the Avon and Somerset Police's underwater search unit.

At the time a force spokesman said his death was "unexplained but not suspicious".