The husband of a woman found dead at her home at the centre of a quiet tourist village overlooking the mouth of the Severn has been been arrested on suspicion of her murder.
Residents in Kewstoke, where little has happened over the centuries, were astonished to discover that the general stores, and the adjoining cottage has become the centre of a major crime scene.
The drama, which resembled a plot in the television series Midsomer Murders, began when uniformed oficers swarmed in force over the village, which has a population of 1,600, at midday on Tuesday.
It emerged that Mark Tottle, 43, the shopkeeper who runs the Royal Oak Stores, the village’s only shop, had popped around to the house at the back to check on his sister, Julie, who had not been seen at work for two days.
After discovering her dead body in the property it is understood that Stephen Hotson, his sister’s husband, fell from a first floor window. He was left in a critical condition.
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Villagers watched as paramedics treated the badly injured man before he was taken by air ambulance to Frenchay Hospital, in Bristol. Meanwhile, Mr Tottle was led to a waiting police car in handcuffs and driven off for questioning.
Overnight Avon & Somerset Police released Mr Tottle without charge but arrested Mr Hotson, who was said to be in a stable condition in hospital, on suspicion of his wife’s murder.
The Royal Oak Stores is the hub of Kewstoke, three miles from Weston-Super-Mare. The village, which boasts a 12th century church, attracts visitors to Sand Bay, a renowned strip of coastline home to caravan parks and a holiday village among the sand dunes.
Many visitors would pop into the shop where the tall figure of Mr Tottle, a devoted father of two children, presides behind the counter. It had been a family-run shop for many years.
Villagers were trying to piece together the chain of events.
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Philip Lewis, 64, a neighbour, said: “We were indoors, it was lunchtime and we were having lunch and became aware of a helicopter, seriously low, hovering over our house.
“When the sound did not disappear we went out to have a look and saw police roadblocks had been set up and an ambulance and they were attending to somebody in the road.
“They worked on him for at least an hour and a half before they took him away, it was obvious he was seriously injured.”
Mr Tottle, who lives with his wife and children in nearby Worle, was arrested at the scene by officer and handcuffed. For a while the entire village was cordoned off.
Mr Lewis, a retired business consultant, said: “We know Mark really well. We have a shared interest in classic cars. He is a really nice bloke. It is really sad”.
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Forensic officers scoured the property and carried out a finger tip search. A pathologist was also conducting a post mortem examination to establish the cause of death.
Detective Chief Inspector Phil Jones, in charge of the investigation, said: “We hope to have the results of a post-mortem later, which will confirm the cause of death of the woman.
“We are keeping an open mind but treating the death as suspicious.
“I am satisfied that this is an isolated incident but officers will continue to remain in Kewstoke, carrying out house-to-house inquiries and providing reassurance to local residents.”