text: A man has died after a ride-on lawnmower he was using overturned into a farmhouse pond and trapped him underneath. The man, who has been named locally as 62-year-old Richard Clements, is believed to have been mowing grass outside his property in Wattisham, Suffolk, when the machine toppled down a bank into the water and trapped him. His family managed to drag him from the pond and made frantic efforts to save him but he was pronounced dead at the scene. A man, in his 60s, has died after the ride-on lawnmower he was using to cut the grass at a farmhouse property in Wattisham, Suffolk, overturned into a pond. Pictured: An air ambulance at the scene yesterday . Friends today told of their shock at the incident, which occurred in the quiet village just before 5.15pm yesterday. Peter Mead, the secretary of Stowmarket Meadlands Recreation Club which Mr Clements had been chairman of for around 30 years, said they grew up together. The 70-year-old from Cotton, Suffolk, said: 'I heard about it last night it was a complete shock. I have been told that he was riding a lawnmower and it went into the pond. I don't know much more about how it happened. 'But knowing the sort of person Richard was I am not surprised. He was a very hands on guy and would do that kind of work. 'We used to play football together and we used to work together at Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI). I worked in the sales office he was a chemist and then a waste environmental manager before he retired about three of four years ago. 'He was just a really nice bloke. The club used to be part of ICI but we wanted to make it independent and Richard was heavily involved on that. 'He did so much for the club, he's really going to be missed. He's left us in a bit of a pickle really.' Liam Cracknell, 47, a lorry driver, who lives on the same street as Mr Clements, said: 'I heard about it this morning, it's really sad. 'I think the whole village will be shocked about it. 'I heard he drowned after the piece of machinery fell on top of him. 'Obviously it's very, very sad you don't wish that on anybody, but this isn't the first time we have had something like this happen. 'A couple of years ago we had a mam die in a pond and we had a young girl die in a bath after she had an epileptic fit. 'That's three drownings in one village which is the really strange. Obviously they are not connected but it's a very strange coincidence.' The incident occurred at about 5.15pm yesterday in the rural Suffolk village of Wattisham (above). Police said there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death and a file is being prepared for the coroner . Another neighbour, who didn't want to be named, added: 'I was here at the time and I saw all the ambulance and fire engines. 'It's a real shock to hear what actually happened. I knew him to say hello to he seemed like a really nice bloke. He was very well known round here and really liked. It's such a shame.' East of England Ambulance Service said Mr Clements suffered a heart attack and, despite the best efforts of emergency services, died at the scene. Suffolk Police was unable to confirm whether he lived at the rural farmhouse but said he wasn't a contracted worker brought in to maintain the land. The force said there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding his death and said a file was being prepared for the coroner. A spokesman said: 'Police were called to address in Bildeston Road at Wattisham around 5.15pm yesterday to reports that a ride-on lawnmower was upside down in a pond in a private garden. 'A man, believed to be in his 60s, who had been driving the lawnmower was pulled from the vehicle and attempts were made to resuscitate him, however he was pronounced deceased at the scene.' An air ambulance and hazardous response team were sent to the incident. The tragic incident comes just two years after a man died in similar circumstances in the rural village. Michael Bradwel, 52, was working to restore a farmhouse in the village in May 2013 and died after being found unconscious in a pond within the grounds of a property.
target: Man was cutting the grass with a ride-on lawnmower when it overturned .
  Richard Clements was trapped under machine in pond outside farmhouse .
  Family pulled him from water but he died at the scene after cardiac arrest .
  It comes just two years after man died in similar circumstances in village .