An elderly man died yesterday afternoon when he drove his mobility scooter over the edge of Beachy Head.

Victor Newton, 81, from Langney, near Eastbourne, plunged down the 530ft chalk cliff in Sussex.

Onlookers at the notorious Sussex suicide spot called police after seeing Mr Newton at 2.45pm.Today Sussex Police said the death was not being treated as suspicious.

A spokesman said: 'At approximately 2.45pm on Sunday 5 August Sussex Police received a call from a member of the public reporting an elderly man on an invalid scooter falling over the edge of the cliff top near to the Beachy Head pub.

'The body of a man has been recovered. He has now been identified as Victor Newton, 81, from Langney in Eastbourne.

'The death is not being treated as suspicious and the Coroner has been informed.'

Beachy Head has been infamous as a spot where people take their own lives since the 1600s.

An on-call Christian chaplaincy team is stationed nearby to try to comfort those in distress, working with local police and the coastguard. A recent report by the team said they had attended 63 searches in June this year alone, rescuing 21 people.

Five bodies were recovered in the area that month, with another body being found the month before.

Last month the popular beauty spot, cared for by the National Trust, was also the scene of a tragic accident as a woman lost her footing and fell to her death as she walked with her husband amid strong winds.

Laraine Goodwin, 49, from Kent, had been walking the couple's dog before she fell. She was pronounced dead at the scene after rescuers found her body at the bottom of the cliffs.

In the wake of the tragedy local residents said the clifftop was extremely dangerous and tourists often stood too close to the edge to have their photograph taken.

Source:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2184310/Pensioner-dies-plunging-Beachy-Head-mobility-scooter.html