The Colombian government has acknowledged that crime and smuggling have gone down since Venezuela deployed thousands of troops along their common border two months ago.

The move was initially criticised by Colombia, which complained that it had not been consulted.
But Colombian Defence Minister Luis Carlos Villegas has now published a review hailing the results.
The number of murders in the border area has dropped by 10%, he said.
More than 150,000 gallons of petrol and 400 cattle have been seized by Colombian forces since Venezuela's border security operation was launched on 19 August, added Mr Villegas.
"We have reached a new era of co-operation with Venezuela's defence minister," he said.
The report was presented to President Juan Manuel Santos and his cabinet during a meeting in the border department of Arauca.
Mr Villegas praised the results of the operation launched unilaterally by Venezuela, but said Colombia was already successfully tackling criminal activities in the area.
"I can affirm today that the border with Venezuela on the Colombian side is safer now than a year ago," he said.
"And I can undoubtedly affirm that the border is safer today than 60 days ago."
Venezuela surprised Colombia on 21 August when it deployed more than 1,000 troops and closed the main crossings along the 2,200km (1,400-mile) border.
The move followed a shootout in which several Venezuelan soldiers were wounded by smugglers.
Other troops were taken to the area in the following days to tackle crime and smuggling.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said that for many years Colombia had overlooked the problem, which was hurting the Venezuelan economy.
Items subsidised by Venezuela's socialist government, including cheap petrol, are smuggled and sold at huge profit on the Colombian side of the border.
Mr Santos recalled his ambassador to Caracas shortly after the operation was launched, complaining about the treatment of Colombians who lived illegally in Venezuela.
More than 1,500 of them were expelled and thousands more fled in the following days.
"I agree that criminal organisations working in the border area are a big problem, but the best way to deal with it is by working together," said Mr Santos.
The two presidents met in Ecuador on 17 September and agreed to "a progressive normalisation" of their common border.


MK Dons have signed striker Osman Sow from Chinese side Henan Jianye on a two-year deal.

The 27-year-old Swede previously played for MK boss Robbie Nielson at Hearts, scoring 20 goals in 45 league appearances.
Nielson told the club website: "He's been the number one target all along for us."
Sow could make his debut for the League One side in Saturday's home game against Gillingham.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.


The government operates national television and radio networks.

There are several private radio stations.
The main political parties publish weekly or fortnightly newspapers and the opposition press is free to criticise the government.
Multichannel cable TV carries local and international TV stations.
There were 22,140 internet users by June 2011 (via Internetworldstats.com).


A new stage musical of Groundhog Day is to have its world premiere at the Old Vic in London next year.

Based on the 1993 comedy film with Bill Murray, the show will be directed by the Old Vic's new boss Matthew Warchus.
Other plays in his inaugural season include Ibsen's The Master Builder, starring Ralph Fiennes, and Pinter's The Caretaker, with Timothy Spall.
Warchus is taking over from Kevin Spacey, the Old Vic's artistic director for 11 years.
He said his first season - which also includes a stage adaptation of Dr Seuss's The Lorax and a dance production of Jekyll and Hyde - reflected a "something for everyone" approach.
He aims to up the number productions per year through shorter runs, and hopes three or four will transfer to the West End or go direct to Broadway via a new partnership with big-name producers Scott Rudin and Sonia Friedman.
Groundhog Day reunites Warchus with three of the creative team behind the hit musical Matilda - composer and lyricist Tim Minchin, choreographer Peter Darling, and designer Rob Howell - who will work with the film's co-writer Danny Rubin.
It tells the story of grumpy TV weatherman Phil Connors who is sent to the small town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, and gets stuck in a time loop, having to live the same day over and over again.
In an interview with the BBC, Warchus described the show as "an intelligent mainstream Broadway classic" that was ideal for the Old Vic.
"It needs a large audience and a large stage, and I wanted to start it in this country, so it's the perfect match."
He added that the film had made him laugh and cry. "It is really about how little time you have to become the best version of yourself.  It's sophisticated meaty stuff in a romantic comedy package."
It will premiere in June 2016 before going to Broadway.
The opening production of the new season in September is Future Conditional, by Tamsin Oglesby, a new play set in a school starring Rob Brydon as a teacher with a cast of 23 "young performers" as his class. Warchus will direct.
That will be followed in October by Eugene O'Neill's American drama The Hairy Ape, directed by Richard Jones.
Warchus will also direct The Master Builder, with Ralph Fiennes as architect Halvard Solness in a new adaptation by David Hare, and also Timothy Spall in Harold Pinter's 1960 classic The Caretaker.
Plans for future seasons include the first revival of Art by Yasmina Reza, a 50th anniversary production of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard, and a new musical based on the 2014 film Pride, about a group of gay and lesbian activists who supported striking miners in the 1980s, which Warchus directed.
Warchus is also introducing a new ticketing scheme, which will make half of all seats at the first five previews of each production available for £10.
"It's not just about young people," Warchus said. "We'll be trying to guide or nudge those tickets to people who are new theatre goers."


South Yorkshire's chief constable accused a group representing Hillsborough Disaster victims and their families of lying, it has emerged.

David Crompton made the comments in an email days before the publication of the Hillsborough report in September.
He said the families' "version of certain events has become 'the truth' even though it isn't".
Mr Crompton apologised for any offence caused but has not specified what falsehoods he was referring to.
Mr Crompton emailed the force's Assistant Chief Constable Andy Holt and head of media Mark Thompson on 8 September, four days before the Hillsborough Independent Panel Report was released.
The email has been released by the county's police and crime commissioner, Shaun Wright, following a Freedom of Information request.
In the email, Mr Crompton asked for a meeting with Mr Holt and Mr Thompson to discuss launching a web page about Hillsborough with links to documents including previous apologies and memos.
He said: "We then publicise it on Twitter. In effect it amounts to the case for the defence.
"One thing is certain - the Hillsborough Campaign for Justice will be doing their version... in fact their version of certain events has become 'the truth' even though it isn't.
"I just have the feeling that the media 'machine' favours the families and not us, so we need to be a bit more innovative in our response to have a fighting chance otherwise we will just be roadkill."
Police Commissioner Wright said he had informed the Independent Police Complaints Commission and the home secretary of the existence of the email and was "disappointed at the use of such language".
In a statement, Mr Crompton said: "It was never intended to cause any offence and I apologise if it has done so.
"Nor was it intended to challenge the integrity and views of those who lost loved ones in the Hillsborough disaster.
"Following the publication of the panel's report I said in the most forthright terms that I supported the findings and that is still my position."
The BBC asked South Yorkshire Police what Mr Crompton's intentions were at the time he wrote the email and what he thought the families had been untruthful about, but was told he was unavailable for further comment.
Margaret Aspinall, who lost her son James at Hillsborough, said: "I think it's an absolute disgrace.
"We have been used to nasty comments in the past anyway so it doesn't surprise me whatsoever."
She said she did not accept Mr Crompton's apology.


A Palestinian man has been shot dead in clashes with Israeli troops at the funeral of a militant in the southern West Bank, hospital officials say.

The victim was named by local media as 27-year-old Ziad Awad, a relative of the Islamic Jihad militant being buried, Jaafar Awad.
An Israeli military spokesperson said soldiers had opened fire after funeral-goers threw rocks and petrol bombs.
The clashes took place in the town of Beit Ummar, near Hebron.
A doctor at Hebron's al-Ahli hospital told the Associated Press a man had died after being brought in with gunshot wounds.
Medical officials said several others had been hurt in clashes with Israeli troops.
According to an Israeli military spokesperson, soldiers had feared for their lives as protesters at the funeral threw rocks and petrol bombs and rolled burning car tyres at them.
The spokesperson said the soldiers responded with non-lethal "riot dispersal means" and then with 0.22-calibre "Ruger" bullets.
"Four hits were confirmed," the spokesperson said, adding that the military was investigating reports of a fatality.
The funeral was for a Palestinian militant who had been recently imprisoned by Israel. He was reportedly released early because of ill health.
The clash comes two days after a Palestinian man stabbed two Israeli soldiers in the northern West Bank before being shot dead by one of them.


Paralympic champion Kadeena Cox has had her UK Sport funding suspended while she takes part in Channel 4 winter sports programme The Jump.

Cox, 25, will join Olympic taekwondo champion Jade Jones and Rio silver medal-winning gymnast Louis Smith on the show.
She won cycling and athletics gold at the Rio Paralympics.
British Athletics made the decision to withdraw Cox's funding with the support of British Cycling.
Cox, who has multiple sclerosis after a stroke in May 2014, later tweeted that her condition is a "ticking time bomb" which prompted her decision to go and "enjoy skiing".
UK Sport told BBC Sport the participation of funded athletes in the show was a matter for the individual sports concerned.
Cox does not have a major cycling event this year, with no Para-cycling Track World Championships officially confirmed, but she would be expected to take part in the Para Athletics World Championships in London in July.
"Due to the nature of the activities on the show, the athlete cannot continue to be supported by the WCPP (World Class Performance Programme) during this time," said a statement from British Athletics.
"Her UK Sport funding will be suspended until she returns to training and proves her fitness."
The medical teams from both sporting organisations are believed to have advised Cox against participating in the show but have allowed her to make her own decision.
"Kadeena enjoyed a fantastic 2016, making history by winning Paralympic gold in both athletics and cycling, and we respect her decision to take some time away from the sport to pursue the opportunities that her success has afforded her," added British Cycling.
Both organisations wished Cox well and said they look forward to her return after the show.
On Tuesday, GB Taekwondo said they "had reservations" but "understood" Jones' decision to take part and had held "extensive" talks with the 23-year-old about the risks involved.
Jones will still receive her full UK Sport funding during her time on the programme.
The show, which sees celebrities competing at winter sports, including ski-jumping, bobsleigh and speed skating, has seen a number of serious injuries.
Last year, Olympic gymnast Beth Tweddle needed surgery to have fractured vertebrae fused together after she was injured in training, while double gold medal-winning swimmer Rebecca Adlington suffered a shoulder injury.
Former Holby City actress Tina Hobley sustained knee, shoulder and arm injuries and has only recently stopped using crutches and Made In Chelsea star Mark-Francis Vandelli broke his ankle.
In addition, athlete Linford Christie pulled a hamstring, ex-EastEnders actor Joe Swash chipped a bone in his shoulder, Girls Aloud star Sarah Harding injured a ligament and model Heather Mills hurt her knee and thumb.
Channel 4 says there has been a "thorough review of safety procedures" before this year's series.


World Cup winner Jake White says the role of England head coach is among the "best sporting jobs in the world".

The 52-year-old South African is the bookmakers' favourite to succeed Stuart Lancaster, who left the post on Wednesday after England failed to make it out of their World Cup group.
White, coach of French Top 14 side Montpellier, has said he is "interested" in the job.
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And he told BBC Radio 5 live: "It's a sleeping giant."
White said "everyone is striving for everything England have got".
He added: "They have more players than any other country, more resources, and they're the envy of every other country on their home ground.
"They have things in place they need to address but I think that's why they're a sleeping giant."
After three years at the helm, White guided his home nation to World Cup success in France in 2007.
He has since coached the Brumbies and the Sharks in Super Rugby, and has been in charge at Montpellier since 2014.
When asked about being approached for the England job, the two-time IRB Coach of the Year said: "If they're genuinely interested in me, and they thought I was the right guy, I'd be honoured to be involved.
"But it's a long shot. No-one has come to ask me so at this point in time it's just media hype."
Australian Eddie Jones and former New Zealand assistant coach Wayne Smith have also been strongly linked with the post.
Smith, however, has distanced himself from the role, insisting he is taking a sabbatical having helped the All Blacks win the World Cup last month.
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Jones, who led Japan to a memorable World Cup campaign, has taken up his post as head coach of Cape Town-based Super Rugby franchise the Stormers.
Asked about the England job during a news conference on Thursday, he said: "I am wholly committed to the Stormers.
"When I wake up in the morning, I look out on to Table Mountain and think of how lucky I am to be here.
"I feel privileged to get the chance to coach the Stormers. It is my aim to produce a really good rugby team that can deliver on the expectations of the fans. That is my goal at the moment."
Exeter Chiefs head coach Rob Baxter had been mentioned as a potential successor to Lancaster, but has reaffirmed his desire to see out his contract at Sandy Park.
Baxter told BBC Sport he would like to see an Englishman take over, citing Northampton director of rugby Jim Mallinder and Leicester counterpart Richard Cockerill as possible candidates.
"There are coaches there who have done their time and I would like to think they would at least get asked, or be thought of as genuine contenders, before we start thinking that we've got to bring in an overseas coach," said Baxter.


After the shouting, screaming and recriminations of yesterday.

After the "Stair Wars" in which a Labour MP waged running verbal combat with Ken Livingstone, and ignited questions about anti-Semitism in the Labour Party and Jeremy Corbyn's leadership, the warring factions have suddenly fallen all but silent.
Peace, though, has not broken out. Anything but.
It's a momentary ceasefire. On both sides, people are keeping their heads down - judging it too dangerous to speak up.
Today, Jeremy Corbyn cancelled his campaigning trip to Wales to avoid unwanted media attention. Media attention is supposed to be the point!
The First Minister of Wales, Carwen Jones, admitted Mr Corbyn isn't a hit with everyone on the doorsteps.
"Yes there are some people saying to me I'm unsure about Jeremy Corbyn. There are others who take the opposite view. What we are finding is that fewer and fewer people are mentioning him on the doorstep."
Mr Corbyn's critics - and enemies - are also keeping quiet.
In private their mood is ferocious.
They want Ken Livingstone expelled, and Mr Corbyn to take anti-Semitism in the party more seriously. So why the phoney peace?
Behind the scenes, fear is spreading of what some expect to be poor results for Labour in Thursday's elections in Scotland, Wales, London and English local authorities.
"Outside London, it's looking dire," one told me.
And now, Mr Corbyn's enemies - who are under constant watch by the leaders' allies - are anxious to avoid being blamed for making things worse by showing disloyalty to their embattled leader.
They expect those accusations to be levelled anyway.
There's mutual suspicion and hostility bordering on hatred between the rival wings and factions of the Labour Party.
It's been a messy, chaotic few days. Acrimonious in public, worse in private.
Some action is coming on Labour's approach to racism and anti-Semitism. Mr Corbyn will speak out. Rule changes explicitly declaring zero tolerance of racism look likely.
But there are fears a good deal of damage has already been done, and the Labour Party will pay a price at the polls.
The election results, when they come, will inevitably be subjected to rival, probably diametrically opposing interpretations within the Labour Party.
But from all I'm hearing from sources in the opposing camps, anything that can be read as a  poor night in Thursday's elections will escalate the in-fighting to a new pitch.
A fierce confrontation over Labour's future direction and leadership now looks unavoidable.


Jake Wood, who plays dodgy businessman Max Branning in EastEnders, is to take a year-long sabattical from the soap.

He said: "I have been at EastEnders for nine years and I feel the time is right to give Max a break".
But he added: "It won't be for too long as I shall be back next year to see Max face another chapter of drama."
Last year, the 42-year-old reached the semi-final of Strictly Come Dancing under the tutelage of his professional partner Janette Manrara.
EastEnders' executive producer, Dominic Treadwell-Collins, said: "Both Jake and I agreed that Max has been through so much over the past nine years that we would give both him and Jake a break when the opportunity arose.
"That opportunity has come and it is the perfect time to send Max Branning out with a bang that will send ripples through the Square for the rest of the year until Jake returns."
There has been no word yet on how Max will depart the soap.
Prior to EastEnders, Wood starred in shows including Only Fools and Horses, London's Burning and Red Dwarf.


The singer Beyonce has included Cardiff in her world tour this summer.

The 34-year-old American star, known for her songs Crazy in Love and Halo, will perform at Cardiff's Principality Stadium on 30 June.
She will also visit Sunderland, London, Manchester and Glasgow as part of the Formation World Tour.
Ticket go on sale next week.


Staff at the National Museum of Scotland are set to begin seven days of strike action on Monday.

The move is part of a union campaign, now in its 18th month, over the removal of a weekend allowance from new members of staff.
The action comes just as the city is at its busiest for the Edinburgh Festival.
The Public and Commercial Services union said 120 members were due to strike following the collapse of talks with National Museums Scotland (NMS).
An NMS spokesman said the action was likely to cause disruption to both the National Museum of Scotland and the National War Museum.
Union officials said the weekend pay changes had created two rates for staff, those who get the allowance because they were employed before 2011, and those who do not.
Officials said withdrawal of the allowance could reduce an individual's pay by Â£2,000 to Â£3,000.


Leicester striker Jamie Vardy says criticism of players "fired them up" for victory over Liverpool on Monday.

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The Premier League champions moved out of the bottom three in the first game since Claudio Ranieri was sacked.
Vardy has previously dismissed speculation that he was involved in the Italian manager's dismissal.
The 30-year-old, who scored twice in the 3-1 win, said: "There has been a lot of unfair stuff written and you've seen a reaction from everyone."
Vardy, who has now scored three in his past two games, continued: "It's definitely got us fired up in a good way to put a reaction on the pitch.
"It's not for the want of trying [that results have been poor]. We've been trying but it's not been clicking. Luckily tonight it all clicked together.
"Hopefully there will be a lot more goals to come."
Danny Drinkwater, who scored Leicester's second goal and his first of the season courtesy of a superb long-range strike, feels the Foxes have set a standard for the rest of the season.
"Criticism is to be expected but we have to put in more performances like that," said the England midfielder.
"It's hard to put a finger on why we haven't been playing like that. We have a massive end of the season to come."
Caretaker boss Craig Shakespeare boosted his chances of getting the manager's job on a permanent basis by overseeing a display far more in keeping with last year's high-energy performances with quick transitions from defence to Vardy.
"Before the game we spoke with Shakes [caretaker manager Craig Shakespeare] and he asked us what we thought were the best actions to take," added Vardy. "We thought it was to press higher and win the ball higher up. We did that and hurt them."
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Shakespeare, who has said he would like the Leicester job, was full of praise for his players, adding that he had never questioned their application or commitment.
"I could see in their eyes that they were up to the fight in the warm-up," said the 53-year-old. "You could tell from the word go there was intensity and passion.
"The professionalism of the players has never been questioned by me. Having taken training with them, I know the criticism has hurt and perhaps there was a little more fire in the belly because of that.
"They know they are guilty of under-performing but this is only one result and we must build on that."
Former Liverpool midfielder Dietmar Hamann on Match of the Day 2: "I think there was a breakdown in communication with the players for a long time.
"The team showed tonight that the club made the right decision. Just because you won the league last season, it doesn't make you the best man to avoid relegation this season."
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Ex-Arsenal defender Martin Keown on MOTD2: "Leicester played like champions. They have been pussycats all season but they played like tigers.
"It was all there, the work rate and the pressure they put Liverpool under. It was a transformation in their performance.
"It's between the ears, they wanted it. They might have thought they were trying under the previous manager but they simply weren't, compared to that performance tonight. They were quite brilliant.
"They have been vindicated, the owners, for getting rid of the manager, because of that performance tonight. But it leaves a bad taste in the mouth.
"I am sure there was pizza and red wine flying somewhere wherever Ranieri was watching tonight. He would have been kicking the television, not believing what he was seeing."
Former Leicester midfielder Robbie Savage on BBC Radio 5 live: "I just can't believe what I'm seeing. It's completely different. They've got an extra yard, they've got extra desire.
"And it's actually quite uncomfortable watching this in a strange way.
"They have been playing like champions and the only difference is the manager is not here. And that doesn't seem to sit that well.
"How many of these Leicester players in the last few months have been able to go home after a match, look in the mirror and say 'I did everything I could have done during that game?'
"Tonight, they all can."


India's Supreme Court has ordered the removal of a wood-burning crematorium near the Taj Mahal to protect the famous monument to love from pollution.

The court acted after a judge warned the crematorium's smoke could damage the 17th Century marble mausoleum.
Hindus, who make up the majority of India's population, traditionally use wood in cremation pyres.
The court suggested Uttar Pradesh state authorities could move the crematorium or build an electric one instead.
The state government's advocate general agreed.
"It is a very good suggestion and I totally agree with the judge's letter," Vijay Bahadur Singh said, the Indian Express reports. "Give me a fortnight and I will come back to this court with a solution."
Crematorium staff, however, denied the pollution charges.
"Ghee, camphor, sandalwood paste and cow dung cakes used in the pyres are instead helping enrich the environment," manager Sanjay Singh told the Times of India.
The Taj Mahal was completed by the Emperor Shah Jahan in 1653 as a mausoleum for his third and favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died giving birth to their 14th child.
The monument's complex structure of white marble domes and minarets inlaid with semi-precious stones and carvings is considered the finest example of Mughal art in India.
In 1983, the Taj Mahal became a Unesco World Heritage site and attracts millions of visitors each year.
But it also has to contend with pollution from the busy and industrial city of Agra and a nearby oil refinery.
Over the years its gleaming white marble has been gradually turning yellow.


Salisbury's firefighters are helping remove the city's 25 baron sculptures, created to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta.

The Baron's Charter trail marked the creation of the Magna Carta by medieval English barons, seen by many as the foundation of democracy.
Forklift trucks will be used to move the half-ton, 5ft 3in barons on Monday, after 12 weeks on display.
They will go on show near the cathedral before being auctioned for charity.
Fire fighters and humanitarian response organisation Serve On are removing the painted sculptures decorated by artists from sites across the city, to take them for repairs before they are displayed outside the cathedral.
The whole lot will be auctioned to raise money for poverty charity The Trussell Trust, which runs the UK's largest foodbank network.
Jenny Marshall, from the charity, told BBC Wiltshire the trail had been much more successful than anticipated.
Having originally printed 30,000 trail maps for the whole event, they ran out in two-and-a-half weeks and eventually got through more than 80,000.
Only four original 1215 copies of the Magna Carta - Latin for Great Charter - remain, one of the best preserved of which is at Salisbury Cathedral.


A Canada-bound airliner was forced to make an emergency landing after severe turbulence injured 21 passengers, including three children, officials said.

The Air Canada flight from Shanghai to Toronto was diverted to Calgary after the turbulence hit.
Eight passengers suffered neck and back injuries and 13 more were taken to hospital for observation.
The injured were in a stable condition, an emergency services spokesman said.
Bing Feng, a passenger, described hearing "lots of screaming" as the plane became "like a rollercoaster".
Another passenger, Yi Lee, said: "To start with it was just OK, normal just up and down, and all of a sudden it was really violent and just shaking everybody.
Even enthusiastic fliers like me can get nervous when there is some chunky turbulence around. But although people can get hurt if they aren't strapped in, turbulence doesn't crash airplanes.
Lots of things can cause turbulence, but pilots can often predict when it's coming, so they can either avoid it or put on the fasten seat-belt signs. And aircraft are built to withstand even the worst excesses of mother nature. Wings are bent until they snap, hulls are tested by attacking them with artificial lightning strikes. In the most extreme examples, turbulence could potentially damage an aircraft, but it won't knock it out of the sky.
There is a brilliant blog about it here. It points out that most of the small number of injuries each year are to flight crews. It also says that the best place to sit if you hate turbulence is over the wings - and the worst place is at the back.
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"Suddenly the flight is just going down and everything is really scary. The girl sitting next to me, she was sleeping and she just fly up [to the ceiling]."
Gord Murray, a frequent flyer, said the turbulence was the worst he'd ever experienced.
Some passengers were taken off the plane strapped to stretchers. Emergency Medical Services spokesman Stuart Brideaux said the injuries were limited to non-life-threatening neck and back injuries.
Air Canada's chief operating officer Klaus Goersch said the passengers had been through a "very unsettling experience".
He praised the crew's response and said some of the injured had been quickly discharged.
The Boeing 777 with 332 passengers and 19 crew on board landed at Calgary without further incident, the airline said in a statement.


Italy has declared a state of emergency in the regions worst hit by Wednesday's earthquake as hopes of finding more survivors fade.

Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has pledged â‚¬50m (Â£42m) in funds for rebuilding.
At least 268 people are now known to have died and 400 were injured. Teams have continued to search the rubble of toppled buildings for a second night.
However, hundreds of aftershocks have hampered the efforts of the 5,000 rescuers.
Another magnitude-4.7 tremor struck early on Friday.
In addition to the funds, Mr Renzi cancelled taxes for residents and announced a new initiative, "Italian Homes", to tackle criticism over shoddy construction.
But he also said that it was "absurd" to think that Italy could build completely quake-proof buildings.
It follows criticism in the Italian press over building standards in high-risk areas. Some of the buildings that collapsed had recently been renovated.
Historic towns do not have to conform to anti-quake building regulations, which are also often not applied when new buildings are put up.
The 6.2-magnitude quake hit in the early hours of Wednesday, 100km (65 miles) north-east of Rome in mountainous central Italy.
The worst affected towns - Amatrice, Arquata, Accumoli and Pescara del Tronto - are usually sparsely populated but have been swelled by tourists visiting for summer, making estimates for the precise number missing difficult.
More than 200 people died in Amatrice alone.
At least three Britons died in the quake, a local official in Amatrice told the BBC. The Romanian government said 11 of its citizens were missing.
Bodies are still being found in the town, including one discovered in the rubble of the Hotel Roma in the city late on Thursday.
An official with the fire department, Lorenzo Botti, admitted they were facing a race against time.
"The chances of finding people alive in these conditions, in this type of setting, well, it's challenging," he said.
But other rescuers said there was still hope, noting that one survivor was pulled from ruins in L'Aquila in 2009 three days after an earthquake that killed more than 300 people.
Search teams have asked locals to disable their wi-fi passwords to help rescue workers communicate more effectively.
Police have also arrested a man for attempting to break into and loot an empty home in the town, Ansa reported.


Police and the fire service are investigating the cause of a fire at Strathmartine Hospital in Dundee.

Fire crews were called to the derelict listed building on Craigmill Road at 13:41 on Monday after the blaze broke out in a roof space.
Firefighters have returned to the scene to dampen down hot spots using an aerial platform and cut away sections of the badly-damaged roof.
Officers are investigating what sparked the fire.
The former orphanage and psychiatric hospital was closed in 2003 and has been vacant since. A number of planning applications have been lodged since to develop housing on the site, although none have yet come to fruition.


A man has been charged with stabbing a soldier at an army barracks.

The male victim suffered neck wounds in the attack at Mons Barracks, Aldershot, at about 06:15 GMT on 12 November.
Detectives said Aidan Warner, 20, of Egret Gardens, Aldershot, Hampshire, was due to appear before Basingstoke magistrates on 1 August charged with wounding with intent.
Police previously said the stabbing was not thought to be terrorist-related.


David Cameron has hailed new figures which show unemployment is at a seven-year low - but Labour says too many jobs are part-time.

The prime minister said the coalition had overseen a "jobs miracle" and the UK had created more jobs since 2010 than the rest of the EU put together.
Unemployment fell by 76,000 to 1.84 million in the three months to February, official statistics show.
Labour welcomed the fall, but accused the Tories of ignoring low pay growth.
The economy moved centre stage again after Thursday's TV election debate, in which Labour leader Ed Miliband and four other party leaders clashed over the deficit, immigration, health and defence. Mr Cameron and Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg did not take part.
In other election news:
The number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance in March fell by 20,700 to 772,400, the Office for National Statistics said. Separate figures showed average earnings rose 1.7% over the same period, down from 1.9% over the previous three months.
Mr Cameron said the UK had created two million jobs since the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition came to power in May 2010 and was the "jobs factory of Europe".
"We are living through a jobs miracle brought to you by a Conservative government," he said.
Analysis by economic editor Robert Peston
David Cameron may look at today's stats on unemployment and wonder why on earth his party is only neck-and-neck with Labour in the opinion polls, and not benefiting from record employment levels and a significant rise in inflation-adjusted pay.
Probably the most interesting stat for me was that regular pay - excluding bonuses - saw a 2.2% increase in February and a 1.8% rise in the three months to Feb. And for the first time since serious records began, that headline rise is the real rise - because CPI inflation is 0%.
It is striking that fears of employers significantly shrinking pay rises with the disappearance of inflation have not materialised: there is no sign in the UK of so-called bad deflation.
Read Robert's full blog
Every new job, he said, was "giving families security, putting food on tables and helping people out of poverty".
"We are on the cusp of something special in our country: full employment, a job for everyone who wants one, if we stick to the plan, we can reach it," he said, claiming that Labour would put that at risk.
The PM has also been buoyed by remarks by International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde praising the strength of the UK recovery compared with the rest of the European Union.
Speaking in Washington at the organisation's spring conference, Ms Lagarde said the UK's strategy was "delivering results" and compared to the growth rates of other EU countries "it's obvious what's happening in the UK has worked".
The Tories' coalition partners are also claiming credit.
Liberal Democrat and Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander said: "With record numbers of people in work and the highest employment rate ever, people can see the difference Lib Dems have made in government.
"The balance, common sense, fairness and financial discipline praised by the IMF today are the things we have brought to government."
Shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna welcomed the fall in unemployment, saying it was a "huge issue".
But he accused the Conservatives of ignoring "the fact that 1.3 million people are working part-time at the moment who would like to be working full-time".
"They ignore things like the fact that on average people are earning Â£1,600 less now than they were in May 2010," he added.
And launching his party's youth manifesto - which would ban unpaid internships or work experience after more than four weeks - Mr Miliband said "too often jobs in our country are low-paid, low-skilled and insecure".
"It is not just about zero-hours contracts. It is about the way our economy works generally.
"Young people have done badly, with growing debt, an insecure job and owning a home a distant dream."
Mr Miliband said the Tories did not represent working people and that their policies benefited the richest in society.
Labour also seized on comments by Conservative minister Iain Duncan Smith that zero-hours contracts should be renamed as "flexible contracts", saying it showed "how completely out of touch David Cameron's Tories are with the lives of working people".
As the dust settles on last night's TV debate, both the Conservatives and Labour are under pressure to explain what they would do if they failed to win enough seats to govern on their own.
This issue includes the wider economy and deficit reduction but also employment and the role of business.
Policy guide: Where the parties stand
Both insist they can win outright but neither have ruled out coalitions of some kind or a looser arrangement, where they could rely on the backing of other parties to get their legislation through Parliament.
During Thursday's debate, Mr Miliband rejected an offer from SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon to "work together" to keep the Conservatives out of power, insisting again that he would not make a formal coalition with them.
Opinion polls have suggested the SNP is on course to win a swathe of seats in Scotland and to be in a powerful position in the event of an inconclusive result, but the Conservatives have said any arrangement involving them would be a "calamity" for the UK.
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Slick new graphics, drum and bass theme music and young presenters: at least in its presentation, Cuba's latest state television channel is a break with the past.

Called Canal Caribe, it is an attempt to stand out from the stiffly presented, heavily scripted newscasts that have aired on state TV for decades.
The channel is trying out different formats. They include live link-ups with international correspondents via Skype and the use of social media sites like Twitter - simple devices that are common on most other news channels but new for Cuban TV.
The channel's news director, Ovidio Cabrera, showed me around the station.
As one of the founders of another left-wing Latin American news service, the Venezuelan-funded Telesur, he says this new venture will be unique in Cuba because it will run outside the fixed midday and early-evening slots.
"The key difference is that this will be a news and information channel that's on air for 18 hours a day," says Mr Cabrera.
"And the vast majority of our coverage, around two-thirds, will be live."
A live, round-the-clock television news channel might not sound particularly innovative, but in Cuba such changes happen slowly.
The state-run newspaper and mouthpiece of the Cuban Communist Party, Granma, has barely changed its typeface in 50 years of revolution.
The question is whether editorially Canal Caribe will be any different from other channels on the Communist-run island and if criticism will be broadcast.
"This is a channel for more revolution," says Mr Cabrera, immediately squashing any suggestion that Canal Caribe will be anything less than 100% pro-government.
"We won't shy away from criticising what isn't working, from making suggestions, from analysing and discussing social problems, but always through the prism of supporting the revolutionary process, not against it,"  he explains.
The young journalists at Canal Caribe insist that, despite the restrictions on them, they will report issues that matter to ordinary people.
"As an intern [working in state media] here, I was told a lot of rules I found to be nonsense," says news anchor Luis Miguel Cabrera in fluent English.
"And I'm really proud that I've experienced how those rules have been - I can't say 'changed' exactly - but certainly made more flexible."
Not yet in his thirties, Mr Cabrera presents The World Now programme and believes that Canal Caribe is evidence of changing media attitudes in Cuba.
"I have personally experienced that I could report the sort of issues that one couldn't do in the past. So I think that we have that responsibility to push hard in order to change things that we don't find representative of what is going on, not only in Cuba but in the world as well."
That said, he is a realist and knows the editorial environment in which he works.
"You have to keep in mind that this is a state-owned channel. But I believe that we can responsibly show on TV what is going in Cuba and what is representative of the Cuban people," he says.
The way Cubans are consuming their news is undoubtedly changing.
"I haven't watched state TV in years", a young music video producer tells me.
"I get all my information from the Weekly Package" he adds, referring to an offline form of file-sharing in Cuba using hard-drives which is both cheap and hugely popular.
There are also now about 100 public wi-fi spots dotted across the island and most young people would rather pay for an hour of Internet access than tune into the nightly news.
Canal Caribe may be the Cuban Government's attempt to tackle that, but they will find it hard to engage the island's youth.
A pilot scheme has just ended to allow Internet connections in private homes and theoretically should soon become more widely available.
One Cuban blogger, Ariel Montenegro, thinks the days of the Internet being perceived as dangerous by the authorities may now be numbered.
"I don't believe that the Cuban Government believes right now that the Internet is bad and is going to be bad for the country and for the revolution and for socialism and so on," he says, sitting in a public wi-fi spot.
Although getting online is still slow and expensive, he says, he is broadly optimistic about the future of the island's connectivity.
Part of the Canal Caribe newsroom is a building site as they construct a completely new set while inside the on-air studio, the young team of journalists is preparing to broadcast live again.
In a rapidly changing media environment, the Cuban government is acutely aware that the slogans of the past no longer appeal to many young people.
With a round-the-clock news channel, they are hoping to become more relevant to their audience again while still delivering the same essential message.


England have recruited Melbourne Storm rugby league defence coach Jason Ryles on a short-term basis in preparation for the autumn Tests.

Ryles is working with England's defence for a two-week period before the match against South Africa at Twickenham on 12 November.
"Melbourne Storm have been in six of the last 11 NRL Grand Finals," England head coach Eddie Jones told BBC Sport.
"Relentless defence has been their trademark and that's what we want."
We've got a new nickname for him - The Mummy - he's got wrapping everywhere
The England squad is at a warm-weather training camp in Portugal, with Ryles assisting defence coach Paul Gustard over the next fortnight.
"Gustard has done an outstanding job in putting that defence together, so we just want that to get better," Jones added.
"It's a great learning opportunity for the coaches and the players. Defence is one of the pillars of our game."
On the injury front, Jones is hopeful lock Courtney Lawes will be fit to face the Springboks, despite a knee injury that forced him out of Northampton's match with Gloucester last Friday.
"We've got a new nickname for him - The Mummy - he's got wrapping everywhere," Jones said.
"But we are cautiously optimistic he is going to be right for South Africa. We expect him to start training at the start of next week.
"He's got bone bruising so there's some swelling there, but the medics are confident he's going to be all right."
Media playback is not supported on this device
Saracens' in-form prop Mako Vunipola is also struggling with a hip niggle, but is expected to train towards the end of the week in the Algarve.
Jones also says the camp will be crucial in assessing Dylan Hartley's fitness before the series. The skipper has only appeared twice for Northampton since early September because of a back problem.
"His attitude and his desire to get right is there, and if that is right then he is right," Jones added.
The England coach says there are contingency plans in place should Hartley not prove his fitness, with back-up hookers Jamie George and Tommy Taylor both playing well for their clubs.
Following the meeting with South Africa, England face Fiji, Argentina and Australia over successive weekends at Twickenham.
Meanwhile, Jones has warned Bath fly-half George Ford, who has been linked with a move to French club Toulon where his father Mike is head coach, that he will not be picked to play for England if he moves overseas.
England have a policy to only select overseas-based players in exceptional circumstances.
"It's an easy choice - you either sign for an English club or you sign for a French club. If you sign for a French club, you don't play for England," said Jones.
"I am not worried about it. I want players who want to play for England and to play for England, you've got to play for an English club."


Housing options for homeless people in Bristol are being reviewed following an inquiry into how a man came to be killed at a council-backed hostel.

Action comes after a serious case review said lack of 24-hour supported housing was a factor in the case.
Derek Hancock, 42, stabbed Robert Cox, 24, at a hostel in August 2013.
Bristol City Council said a specialist crisis centre was set up and longer-term options for people would be part of the review.
In the wake of the stabbing, the crisis centre containing 10 beds was set up in 2014 offering 24-hour support.
There are a total of 1,100 bed spaces in Bristol for people who are "on a pathway out of homelessness" the council said.
They receive high, medium or low level of support according to their needs.
Nick Hooper, service director for housing and crime reduction at the council, said: "What we expect is that people stay in those high support services for a relatively short period of time while support is put in place and they get their life back under a degree of control.
"Then they would move onto medium level support and stay longer there and we would often inevitably need more bed spaces there."
The review will also look at the range of housing options, drug treatment and other support for homeless people.
Other changes prompted by the report include a more robust risk assessment of the hostel residents.
Mr Hooper said: "It was a really, really shocking incident, occasionally we do have this sort of incident but I can't remember a previous occasion when someone was killed.
"The report said this was not predictable - even if we had all these other safeguards in place it still could have happened.
"But I believe the things we are doing will make it much less likely."
The housing review is expected to take 12 months to complete.


Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti claimed Europe had "one week to save the euro" ahead of yet another crunch EU summit on Thursday and Friday.

France's president has called for a "growth pact", Tony Blair has urged a "grand bargain", the markets demand a "big bazooka", while in Germany there are rumblings about federalism.
Yet the economic and financial solutions to the eurozone crisis are actually surprisingly straightforward.
How so?
Easy. Just ask how the exact same problems have been solved by the members of that other large (and much better functioning) single currency area - the United States of America.
Europe's real problem is that almost all of the solutions are far from politically palatable.
The eurozone's root problem is that
          the southern European economies have become fundamentally uncompetitive
 - their wages rose too quickly during the boom years, which led them to import a lot more than they exported, and borrow the difference.
The southern economies' excessive debts, persistent uncompetitiveness and resulting need to continue borrowing - along with Germany's reluctance to give them the money - is what has driven the financial panic that has made it much harder for southern European governments and banks to borrow from markets.
What's more, the seizing up of European financial markets - not to mention the collective determination of Europe's governments to cut spending, and the European Central Bank's focus on price stability - is threatening to push the entire continent into a long and deep recession, something that would merely compound the debt problems.
So, if the eurozone were to look at the US model for inspiration in its hour of need, what sorts of changes - economic, financial and, ultimately, political - might need to be considered?
Europe's most immediate task is to restore confidence in its banks.
All the
          bad loans made by eurozone banks (loans to mortgage borrowers, property speculators and even governments that may not be fully repaid) may need to be cleaned up (by injecting money into the banks), with the potential losses borne by the eurozone as a whole - because many national governments probably cannot afford it. In the case of Spain's banks, the current bailout deal leaves Spain's government sitting on all the losses.
Deposits at all eurozone banks may need to be guaranteed
          in euros by the eurozone as a whole, in order to stop panicky investors from moving their money from banks in southern European countries at risk of exiting the euro, to Germany (and increasingly to Switzerland and Denmark).
All of Europe's banks may need to be placed under a
          common regime of regulation and supervision, with troubled banks given equal access to rescue loans, and being wound up by a central authority when they go bust.
Europe's biggest long-term conundrum is how to stop governments like Spain or Italy going bust - and restore confidence in their commitment to stay within the euro - while ensuring that all governments are more responsible with their finances in future.
The biggest sticking point
 is
          eurobonds. A large chunk of eurozone government debt may need to be amalgamated - with governments standing behind each other's finances - in order to reinforce the commitment of governments to staying in the euro:
In the long-run, a US-style
          federal budget may be needed to cover the cost of recessions, so that individual governments don't risk going bust when their national economies get into trouble. For example, the cost of a minimum level of social security - especially unemployment benefits - could be permanently shared across the eurozone, paid for by a common income tax.
The new French President Francois Hollande was elected on a platform demanding a "growth pact" in Europe - a set of reforms designed to boost European economies and mitigate the pain being inflicted by government spending cuts across the continent.
The
          European Central Bank may need to have its mandate changed so that it has an explicit dual target to support employment as well as price stability, just like its American counterparty, the US Federal Reserve does, as proposed by Mr Hollande.
The eurozone may need to pay for large-scale
          investment in infrastructure, particularly in southern Europe, much in the way that West Germany invested in rebuilding East German after reunification in 1990. Proposals on the table include increasing the European Investment Bank's ability to lend, and
          creating common "project bonds"
 to finance major construction.
All Europeans (and especially southerners) are having to implement
          structural reforms that will increase their long-term growth and strengthen government finances (although at the risk of hurting growth in the short-term). These include removing restrictions on market competition, raising the retirement age, laying off (over many years) a lot of state employees, and making it much easier to hire and fire employees. Mr Hollande has resisted many of these reforms in France.
"Rebalancing" means solving the big underlying competitiveness problem faced by southern Europeans that led to their economies racking up so much debt in the first place.
The ECB and German government may need to stimulate high
          wage inflation in Germany for several years in order to eliminate the country's current massive competitive trade advantage over southern Europe -
          something that is already beginning to happen
.
In the same way that Washington helps out struggling US states, the southern European governments may need to be given money (
          given, not
          lent) by the rest of the eurozone via direct
          fiscal transfers, so that they can afford to prop up their economies until they have regained their competitiveness. These transfers could end up taking the form of bailout loans that are never repaid.
Structural reforms - particularly labour market reforms - also play a key role in rebalancing, by ensuring that wages in southern Europe do not rise too quickly, as they did in the past decade.
To make a full banking, fiscal and monetary union work, the eurozone governments would need to hand power to a
          central authority (the European Commission) that can pay for and supervise all of the above, while national governments accept that in future they have to keep their own spending strictly within their limited means.
As most of the above reforms involve Germany sharing its wealth with the rest of Europe (and all European nations handing power to Brussels), Berlin is insisting on the principle of no taxation without representation - in other words a move towards full
          federalism, with spending and regulation controlled by a
          directly elected presidency
 of the European Commission.


Former Bolton Wanderers midfielder Fabrice Muamba is supporting a year-long campaign that aims to prevent death from sudden cardiac arrests.

The 24-year-old suffered a cardiac arrest during an FA Cup match against Tottenham Hotspur in March.
He returned to the Reebok Stadium earlier to promote the Hearts and Goals campaign.
The initiative aims to increase the number of defibrillators in public places and offer CPR training.
Muamba's heart stopped for 78 minutes after he collapsed on the pitch and medics used a defibrillator several times to restart his heart.
He said: "It happened to me and I had the right people at the right time to help me.
"I was grateful to be saved by people and I wanted to be part of this.
"Hopefully we can put this machine in every public place we can to help people save lives."
The campaign is run in association with Bolton Wanderers, the Arrhythmia Alliance based in Stratford-upon-Avon and the Heart Rhythm Charity.
Muamba said he had not ruled out a return to football, but has designs on some of the game's less stressful roles.
"To be a coach you need a bigger heart and my heart is very tiny," he added. "I had a cardiac arrest playing football and you see coaches having heart problems.
"That's why I'll walk away from football and do something different in my life.
"I would like to be upstairs, be a director of football. Wearing the suits, looking smart and talking about football - no strain on the heart at all."


Nicola Sturgeon has said there was a real risk the UK could be facing a "lost decade" after leaving the EU.

The first minister was speaking at a meeting of the Scottish Parliament's European Committee.
She told MSPs on the committee that she remained "profoundly concerned" about the implications of Brexit, with the early signs "not encouraging".
And she said the "least worst option" of remaining in the single market should be the key objective.
Ms Sturgeon also criticised the UK government's failure to deliver answers on what will happen in relation to country's departure from the European Union.
She said: "I think the lack of answers to any basic questions about what the UK government is actually seeking to achieve three months on from the referendum is just unacceptable, and becomes more unacceptable with every day that passes.
"And also this idea that there can be a cloak of secrecy over the position of the UK government as it develops, I just think is untenable."
While there would be a two-year period after Article 50 was triggered for negotiations to take place, Ms Sturgeon said it would take "goodness knows how many years after that" to determine the new relationship between Britain and Europe.
She added: "I do think there is a real risk that the UK is facing right now a lost decade or more, when the uncertainty and turmoil of Brexit and everything that comes after that, before there is clarity about what the UK's place in Europe and the world actually is will dominate."
Ms Sturgeon also said she become increasingly frustrated at the delay in setting out Scotland's role in negotiations between the UK and EU.
And said she was not optimistic that the rights of EU citizens living in the UK would be protected, and that it was possible UK citizens would need to apply for visas to visit EU countries after Brexit.
And she argued that the argument for the House of Commons to be involved in the process of triggering Article 50 - which would start the two-year negotiation process - was "compelling".
If that happened, she said Holyrood could also have to give its backing for this, with MSPs potentially voting on a legislative consent motion (LCM).
But she insisted another independence referendum was "not the starting point" for the Scottish government, pledging to "methodically and systematically work through all of the options".
A UK government spokeswoman restated Prime Minister Theresa May's view that "it would not be right to provide a running commentary or reveal our hand prematurely".
The spokeswoman added: "The Department for Exiting the European Union is leading the UK's negotiations to leave the European Union and establish the future relationship between the EU and the UK.
"The government has committed to working very closely with parliament, devolved administrations and a wide range of other interested parties on this approach."
Michael Russell, the minister charged with making the Scottish case in Brexit negotiations, used a debate in the Holyrood chamber later on Wednesday to call on the UK government to clarify whether it wants to remain in the single market.
Mr Russell said: "We have no idea whether or not the UK wishes to remain within the single market, almost three months on from the referendum. That is not good enough.
"I am today inviting this parliament to add their voice to ours in holding the UK government to the prime minister's commitment and reiterating their support for our principled and values-driven approach to protecting Scotland's interests, fundamental to which is to remain inside the single market.
"For continued fairness and opportunity for Scotland's workers as well as for long-term prosperity for Scotland as a whole, we must not be dragged by the hardline Brexiteers out of the single market."
But opposition politicians questioned Ms Sturgeon's objectives as she seeks to play a key role in any EU negotiations.
Scottish Conservative deputy leader Jackson Carlaw said politicians, including the first minister, must accept the UK's vote to leave while the public was "weary" of the prospect of another independence referendum.
He said the Scottish government can "both make or break our influence and an opportunity in the exit negotiating strategy and discussions".
"The First Minister's tone has not been encouraging," he added. "Her obsession with independence reluctantly persuades us ... that her view of Scotland's interests can only be viewed through that prism."
Labour's Lewis Macdonald questioned whether maintaining UK membership of the single market would fulfil Scottish ministers' mission to protect Scotland's relationship with Europe.
"Does the independence option then come off the table if the UK successfully negotiates continuing membership of the single market?" he asked.
"Mrs May will then have to decide what matters more - keeping ministers in her cabinet who want to leave the single market or getting an independence referendum off the table.
"If, on the other hand, SNP ministers would wish to press on regardless in pursuit of a separate Scottish outcome, then they need to tell us what else is a key objective for them in these negotiations?"
Following the debate, MSPs backed the Scottish government motion making clear a "key objective" in Brexit negotiations "must be for Scotland and the UK to remain inside the EU single market".
It was approved by 87 votes to 34.
MSPs also backed a Labour amendment calling on the government to consult and report back to the Parliament on its objectives and priorities by 112 to five.
A Conservative amendment calling on SNP ministers to "work in good faith with the UK Government in its forthcoming negotiations with the EU" was rejected by 29 votes to 93.
The UK and Scottish parliaments have been back for just over a week and we're still waiting for real detail on what Brexit will mean. But there are some key arguments emerging.
The Scottish government and the SNP group at Westminster are making clear they think single market access is key in Brexit negotiations. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says she wants membership of the market.
But key figures in Europe, setting out their negotiating strategy, are saying that can only happen with free movement. The European Parliament chief negotiator said on Tuesday that the "freedoms are inseparable". In Brussels, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said there would be no "a la carte access" to the EU for the UK.
That creates a problem for the UK government. Ministers in London have made clear they intend to limit immigration from Europe. Immigration levels are seen by many as a key reason for the leave vote in England and Wales. Ministers in London want access to the single market too, but are they prepared to compromise on free movement?
It's early days and official talks won't start for months, but the different demands here are a sign of how tough they will be.


A man has died following a diving accident off the coast of Cornwall.

The man was recovered unconscious from the water at Porthkerris, near St Keverne, and airlifted to the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro, where he was later pronounced dead.
Two other divers were taken to Plymouth for specialist recompression treatment after a rapid ascent in the sea on Saturday.
The victim is believed to be a 67-year-old from Brentwood, Essex.
More on the diving accident, plus other Devon and Cornwall news
Divers can suffer decompression sickness - commonly known as "the bends" - if they surface too quickly allowing nitrogen bubbles to form in the blood.
The Health and Safety Executive has been informed.
Formal identification has not yet been carried out but Devon and Cornwall Police said the dead man's next of kin has been informed.
A police spokesperson said enquiries were ongoing to establish the circumstances, but the death was not thought to be suspicious.


Former Scotland midfielder Brian Kerr has been named manager of Albion Rovers, two days after Darren Young took charge of his last match.

The Scottish League One club said last month that Young would leave the club after failing to agree a new contract.
Kerr was delighted to have stepped up from coaching Rovers' under-20 development side.
"I'll do everything in my power to continue the progress the club has made in recent years," said the 36-year-old.
"My work will start immediately as I look to put a squad and backroom staff in place for next season."
Kerr told his club website he hopes to name his assistant manager later this week.
Former St Johnstone, Queen's Park and Scotland Under-21 boss Billy Stark had been Young's number two.
Kerr, who played for Newcastle United, Motherwell, Hibernian, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Dundee and Arbroath, joined the Cliftonhill coaching staff last summer.
Rovers chairman Ronnie Boyd told his club website: "Brian has done a great job with the under-20 development side and we are confident he can do an equally good job with our first team.
"Brian played the game at a very high level both north and south of the border and earned three caps for Scotland, but he also knows the demand of Division One football."
Young was appointed the Coatbridge club's player-manager in June 2014 and led them to the League Two title in his first season.
They finished sixth in the league above last season and Saturday's 2-0 home defeat by champions Livingston left them eighth this term.
Rovers were two points above Peterhead, who will face a play-off to retain their League One status.


Blackpool kept up their hopes of claiming a play-off spot in League Two by beating Hartlepool in a scrappy encounter.

Pools started the game well and had plenty of first-half possession but finding a way through the defence to trouble Blackpool goalkeeper Sam Slocombe was a different matter.
Lewis Hawkins played in Lewis Alessandra but when he got into the area he checked back onto his right foot and his shot was blocked.
The Tangerines' best effort came when Mark Cullen's shot was firmly blocked by Liam Donnelly.
Pools keeper Trevor Carson saved brilliantly on 47 minutes when a swift break saw Brad Potts cross for Kyle Vassell, who picked his spot with a firm header only for Carson to keep it out.
The home side almost took the lead on 61 minutes as Rhys Oates crossed and Alessandra's first-time shot fizzed low past the post.
But the Tangerines opened the scoring on 64 minutes when a counter-attack saw the ball played over the top for Cullen to confidently net.
Pools should have levelled on 84 minutes after they were awarded a penalty following Tom Aldred's handball. Alessandra, however, ballooned the ball high over the bar from 12 yards.
Report supplied by the Press Association
Match ends, Hartlepool United 0, Blackpool 1.
Second Half ends, Hartlepool United 0, Blackpool 1.
Jim McAlister (Blackpool) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Nicky Deverdics (Hartlepool United).
Attempt missed. Padraig Amond (Hartlepool United) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right.
Foul by Rhys Oates (Hartlepool United).
Mark Cullen (Blackpool) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Substitution, Hartlepool United. Nicky Deverdics replaces Lewis Alessandra.
Foul by Scott Harrison (Hartlepool United).
Mark Cullen (Blackpool) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Penalty missed! Bad penalty by Lewis Alessandra (Hartlepool United) right footed shot is just a bit too high. Lewis Alessandra should be disappointed.
Penalty conceded by Tom Aldred (Blackpool) with a hand ball in the penalty area.
Attempt saved. Mark Cullen (Blackpool) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Foul by Lewis Alessandra (Hartlepool United).
Mark Cullen (Blackpool) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution, Hartlepool United. Michael Woods replaces Josh Laurent.
Liam Donnelly (Hartlepool United) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Mark Cullen (Blackpool).
Substitution, Blackpool. Danny Philliskirk replaces Bright Samuel because of an injury.
Substitution, Hartlepool United. Padraig Amond replaces Billy Paynter.
Lewis Alessandra (Hartlepool United) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Kelvin Mellor (Blackpool).
Lewis Hawkins (Hartlepool United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Bright Samuel (Blackpool).
Scott Harrison (Hartlepool United) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Kyle Vassell (Blackpool).
Foul by Billy Paynter (Hartlepool United).
(Blackpool) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Attempt missed. Rhys Oates (Hartlepool United) left footed shot from the right side of the box is high and wide to the left.
Goal!  Hartlepool United 0, Blackpool 1. Mark Cullen (Blackpool) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Andy Taylor.
Billy Paynter (Hartlepool United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Clark Robertson (Blackpool).
Corner,  Hartlepool United. Conceded by Brad Potts.
Foul by Scott Harrison (Hartlepool United).
Kyle Vassell (Blackpool) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Attempt missed. Nicky Featherstone (Hartlepool United) right footed shot from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the right.
Foul by Josh Laurent (Hartlepool United).
Kelvin Mellor (Blackpool) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt missed. Brad Potts (Blackpool) right footed shot from the centre of the box is just a bit too high.
Corner,  Blackpool. Conceded by Jake Carroll.


York City are looking to use Sunday's FA Trophy final against Macclesfield to move on from "a difficult time", according to boss Gary Mills.

The Minstermen suffered a second successive relegation to drop down to National League North after drawing with Forest Green on 29 April.
"Out of what has happened there are a lot of positives," Mills, 55, told BBC Radio York.
"Last season has gone for me, this is next season."
He added: "I've got Jon Parkin signed up for next season and 90% of the players have told me they want to play for me next season and I think that is fantastic.
"I want us to look at this game like the Community Shield and if we can win it it sets us up for the season."
Mills has previously enjoyed Wembley success at Wembley with York, leading them to the FA Trophy and play-off final double in 2012 when they won promotion back to the Football League.
Boss Mills, who has committed himself to the club for next season, gave the players 10 days off following their relegation, something he felt was "essential".
"It's a difficult time and that is when you find out about people, yourself and what this game is about," he said.
"I'm sitting here now because I want to move forward and be positive and I want to reward the fans for their loyal support after a hard season."
Should the Minstermen manage to win the Trophy they will be the second relegated team in two years to win the competition, after Halifax did the same having gone down from the National League last season.
This year's final gives Macclesfield's Kingsley James an opportunity to put some demons to rest.
The midfielder, 25, got married the day before last year's final when he was at Halifax and rushed to Wembley, only to be told he was on the bench.
"My wife dropped me off at Leeds-Bradford airport and I got to Heathrow about nine," he told BBC Radio Manchester.
"I needed to get to the team hotel so I had to pay £120 for a taxi to get there. I then got told that I wouldn't be in the team and I was on the bench.
"As you can imagine I was very disappointed. I worked really hard and played nearly every minute of every game throughout the season and then to not play at the big one was really disappointing."
James did get on the pitch for 16 minutes at the end of the game as Halifax secured the trophy with a 1-0 win over Grimsby.


The Conservatives have lost overall control of a Surrey council after Thursday's local elections.

No party has overall control of Elmbridge Borough Council, where votes were not counted until Saturday.
The Conservatives lost 11 seats in the council following boundary changes. Independent numbers were also down by one seat.
The new council is made up of 22 Conservatives, 19 residents association members and seven Liberal Democrats.
The Conservatives retained control of Reigate and Banstead Borough Council, where votes were also counted earlier.
The new council consists of 39 Conservatives, seven residents association members, two Green Party, two Liberal Democrats and one UKIP.
Elmbridge votes were counted Esher Hall at Sandown Park Racecourse, while Reigate and Banstead's count was at Donyngs Leisure Centre, Redhill.
The Conservatives kept control of four Surrey councils declared on Friday.
Results from Mole Valley and Woking were declared on Friday evening, with Tandridge and Runnymede announced earlier in the day.
Labour won a by-election at Guildford Borough Council, with James Walsh gaining a seat in the Stoke ward from the Conservatives.
The Conservatives defeated independent Kevin Hurley as police and crime commissioner for Surrey.
Former Army major and Surrey County Council chairman David Munro took 100,122 votes, including second-preferences.


Double Olympic silver medallist Becky James says former British Cycling technical director Shane Sutton played a big part in her success at Rio 2016.

James, 24, earned keirin and sprint silver in Rio after recovering from injury and illness.
Sutton stepped down in April and is the subject of an independent review into allegations of sexism and bullying, which he denies.
"He said he believed in me," James said of the Australian.
"Around Christmas time, he told me he believed I could get to the Olympics and reckoned I could win a medal.
"Back then I couldn't believe I would, especially going into the Hong Kong World Cup and being knocked in first round of the sprint.
"But I kept my head down and kept training hard and the results started coming."
James missed out on the Olympics four years ago after a season wrecked by injury and illness but came back to win two world titles in 2013.
She overcame a cancer scare and a career-threatening knee injury but admits she came close to quitting the sport.
"There were points where I wanted to quit and I couldn't deal with the stress and the emotion that I was going through," she said.
"But looking back now, it was all worth going through for this.
"It's all been about Rio and getting to the Olympics - and this last year especially, it's just been getting my fitness back and getting back to a really good standard.
"I feel so relieved that I'm back to my old self and back to some really good form."
Having secured her place in Rio, James claimed silver in the keirin before finishing second to Germany's Kristina Vogel in the women's sprint.
"It doesn't seem real but having these two medals around my neck is a nice way to finish the Olympics," James told BBC Wales Sport.
"It's been a tough journey and maybe even five months ago if someone said I'd be going to the Olympics, I would probably have said no.
Media playback is not supported on this device
"To come away with two medals is unexpected. Obviously I had targets and I wanted to win a medal, especially in the keirin.
"You never know what's going to happen in the keirin race. It's not necessarily the fastest rider that wins, it's the tactical element.
"Going into the sprint and getting the Olympic record was very unexpected but I'm over the moon with that.
"I knew I had good legs. It was just believing in my ability, my form and my race tactics. So I just took them race by race and got another silver medal."


Motorcyclists have joined the family of Dr John Hinds, the road racing medic killed in a track accident, in a convoy as they brought his remains home to Northern Ireland.

The Tandragee man was killed while providing medical cover at a Skerries 100 practice session in County Dublin.
His family asked motorcyclists to join the cortege as it travelled north on the Dublin-to-Belfast motorway.
The convoy did a lap of "John's favourite" Tandragee 100 circuit.
Bikers joined the family as the cortege passed a service station on the M1 near Castlebellingham in County Louth on Tuesday.
Dr Hinds, originally from Portaferry, County Down, was a consultant at Craigavon Area Hospital in County Armagh.
The 35-year-old and his colleague Dr Fred McSorley were dubbed "the flying doctors" of Irish motorcycle sport.
The pair would follow racers, travelling almost as fast as many of them on their own high-powered motorcycles.
The statement, issued on behalf of his partner, parents and brothers, said: "John lived for his family, his patients and the biking fraternity."
They said they were "only now beginning to understand just how many lives John touched during his 35 action-packed years".
"The widespread support and acknowledgement of John's work, both nationally and internationally, has been incredibly heartwarming and a great source of comfort to us all at this terribly sad time," they said.
His funeral is due to take place in Portaferry on Thursday.


1. Conservative Brexiteers maintain their public show of confidence that their vision will be fulfilled, but some are increasingly nervous.
The removal of Brexit Minister David Jones in the post-election reshuffle has crystallised fears that the government might offer a watered down version of Brexit, putting Britain in a kind of granny annexe to the EU, complete with a ground rent payable to the EU and a connecting door through which immigration could continue and the European Court of Justice could continue to regulate.
Alternatively, some fear a transitional deal that becomes such a long goodbye that the UK never, in the end, makes its final farewell to the EU.
Maastricht veteran Bernard Jenkin blogged recently that any retreat would destroy Conservative Party unity: "The message could not be clearer: if the Conservatives turn back on the referendum result in any substantial way, the huge divisions that beset the party from Thatcher to Cameron will re-open, and we will become again unelectable."
2. The snap election left Jeremy Corbyn with a parliamentary party dominated by his critics.
They now expect a purge, with some of the most prominent Corbyn-sceptics likely to face attempts at deselection. Meanwhile a number of MPs who quit the Labour frontbench in the last Parliament, in protest against Mr Corbyn, are returning to the colours.
3. Lindsay Hoyle looks increasingly like the next Speaker of the Commons - but maybe not for quite a while.
He dominated this week's election for the three deputy Speaker posts, leaving the two other contenders, Rosie Winterton and Roberta Blackman-Wood, trailing far behind him.
But Speaker Bercow, meanwhile, sits more safely in the chair of the Commons than at any time during his speakershipâ€¦..and he has been confident enough to select some testing backbench amendments to the Queen's Speech. The Speaker has never been more powerful - because it is hard to imagine a majority against him being mustered by his critics, and he could be called upon to make some crucial rulings in a House of Commons balanced on a knife-edge between government and opposition.
4. The scheme to empty out the Victorian buildings of the Palace of Westminster - Restoration and Renewal as it's known in Commons jargon - looks dead in the water.
Spending billions revamping Parliament is not a good look, in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster, and even before that, and before the election returned a hung Parliament, ministers seemed nervous of the necessary Commons vote on the issue.
But the risks of inaction remain; those iconic Victorian buildings are in a terrible state, but muddle through, and make-do and mend seem the most probable option - with the parliamentary authorities crossing their fingers and hoping fire or power cuts don't force them into a sudden and ramshackle exodus.
5. Summertime and the legislating is easyâ€¦
Any Commons drama before the summer looks likely to be supplied by events, dear boy, statements and urgent questions, rather than big controversial bills.
The legislation in both Houses, so far, is uncontroversial, technical fare, rather than the anticipated diet of big-ticket Brexit bills.
And without select committees to provide occupational therapy, MPs can look forward to a torpid July, before their holidays begin.
Hostilities will resume in September.


Islamic State fighters have attacked the Syrian city of Kobane, months after being driven out in a symbolic battle that made international headlines.

Two car bombs and clashes with Kurdish defenders left up to 30 people dead and scores injured. IS shot dead 20 others in a village nearby, activists say.
IS has recently suffered a string of defeats to Kurdish forces.
But in another attack on Thursday, it seized parts of the key north-eastern city of Hassakeh.
The apparent two-pronged IS offensive came as Kurdish fighters from the Popular Protection Units (YPG) cut a major supply line for IS near Raqqa.
Raqqa is the de facto capital of the caliphate whose creation IS announced a year ago after it captured large swathes of northern and western Iraq.
Kobane still matters to IS. It was never important strategically, but this latest attack shows that its loss, after five months of heavy  street-to-street fighting and coalition aerial bombardment, still hurts IS.
As was the case last November when a huge vehicle bomb exploded at the same spot, questions are being asked if the attackers made it in from the Turkish side, and if so, why Turkey didn't stop them.
Thursday's assault is a reminder, too, that IS, despite recent losses in the area, is still very much active and capable of offensives. Overnight they also attacked Hassakeh to the east,  a far bigger prize.
Despite the narrative of the last few weeks, IS is far from being on the back foot.
Key events in battle for Kobane
Kobane: Inside the town devastated by fight against IS
Battle for Iraq and Syria in maps
The IS attack on Kobane began with militants detonating a car bomb - followed by an assault from dozens of IS fighters from a number of directions.
Some may have hidden themselves among returning refugees - there are also reports that they disguised themselves by wearing Kurdish militia uniforms, says the BBC's Middle East correspondent Quentin Sommerville.
A reporter with Kurdish news agency Rudaw reports from inside Kobane that he had seen "a wounded woman whose entire family were killed inside their home after IS gunmen entered their house".
Hours later another car bomb exploded in the city.
A senior local official told BBC Persian that the situation in Kobane itself was "under control" but clashes were continuing on its eastern and northern outskirts.
Suggestions by Syrian state television that the militants had entered Kobane from Turkey were rejected in the Turkish media.
The governor's office in the Turkish province of Sanliurfa, bordering Kobane, was quoted by Hurriyet newspaper as saying that evidence suggested they entered from the west, via the Syrian town of Jarablus.
Hassakeh, about 270km (180 miles) east of Kobane, has been under the control of both government forces and Kurdish fighters, and IS militants have been trying to capture it for months.
The militants reportedly struck at government-held neighbourhoods and captured two districts. Syrian state TV said local people were being forced from their homes and that there had been killings.
Hassakeh is the largest city in north-eastern Syria. An estimated 500,000 people live there, in addition to thousands who have fled violence elsewhere.
Between 30,000 and 35,000 people from a population of about 400,000 have returned to Kobane following the IS defeat in January.
More than 200,000 Syrians have lost their lives in four years of armed conflict - more than 11 million others have been forced from their homes.
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David Cameron and Barack Obama have vowed to defeat the "distorted ideology" of terrorism, ahead of talks in Washington.

The UK and US leaders said they would not allow anyone to "muzzle free speech" after Islamist gunmen killed 17 people in terror attacks in Paris.
They are expected to discuss cyber crime and the economy during the prime minister's two-day visit.
It is likely to be his final Washington visit before May's general election.
Mr Cameron is also expected to raise the case of Shaker Aamer, the final British resident in Guantanamo Bay.
The UK is seeking the return of Mr Aamer, who has been held for 13 years without trial, to his family in Britain.
The two leaders will have a working dinner at the White House on Thursday and meet in the Oval Office on Friday.
Thursday's talks are expected to focus on the economy, amid uncertainty in the eurozone and controversy over a planned EU-US trade deal.
Analysis by BBC political editor Nick Robinson
This is the day when the argument about the British economy travels across the Atlantic.
A day on which the UK Prime Minister David Cameron and US President Barack Obama have written a joint article in The Times boasting of how they've worked closely together to restore economic growth and to improve "living standards" - language which Labour has tried so hard to own and will be frustrated to see the White House sharing with Downing Street.
Read more from Nick.
Campaigners say the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership poses a threat to democracy and the rule of law.
But in a joint article in Thursday's Times newspaper, Mr Cameron and Mr Obama said it would "support new opportunities for millions of workers".
After the economy talks, the emphasis will shift to national security, including the threat from cyber attacks.
In their article, the leaders said the world had responded "with one voice" to the Paris attacks on Charlie Hebdo magazine, police officers and a kosher supermarket.
"Along with our French allies, we've made clear to those who think they can muzzle freedom of speech and expression with violence that our voices will only grow louder," they said.
Vowing not to be "cowed by extremists" the leaders said they would "defeat these barbaric killers and their distorted ideology".
They are also expected to discuss the fight against Ebola, the threat from Islamic State extremists, and Russia's actions in Ukraine.
Accusing Russia of "trying to destabilise" Ukraine, they added: "If we allow such fundamental breaches of international law to go unchecked, we will all suffer from the instability that would follow."
Mr Cameron is not the only British politician currently in the US - the shadow chancellor Ed Balls, has also flown across the Atlantic, to launch the Commission on Inclusive Prosperity, which he c-chaired with for US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers.
In an interview with the BBC Mr Balls said that the challenge for the US-UK "special relationship" was "not just to meet issues of international security but also to make sure that our economies not only grow but deliver rising living standards and we've been seeing stagnating living standards in Britain and America".
He said that the biggest economic risk to the UK was "would be for us to leave the EU".
"When I speak to people here in Washington, and in capitals round the world, people say, 'Britain leaving Europe? A referendum in a couple of years time? Why is David Cameron proposing to take such big risks with Britain's economic future?' I think they're right," he said.


Broadcaster Stephen Fry has sworn off Instagram, saying he has been "hounded off" the photo-sharing service.

The 57-year-old, who commands a huge following on social media, announced his departure by posting a blank, black image on Monday.
"Newspapers, as ever, suck all the joy out of everything," he wrote. "Closing down. It was, briefly, fun. Bye."
The actor, author and QI host has had an Instagram account since June 2013 and also uses Twitter.
His time with Twitter, though, has seen several temporary silences, hiatuses and threats to stop using it.
In 2009 he said he was considering giving up on the micro-blogging website because it contained "too much aggression and unkindness".
Fry is currently "taking a holiday" from Twitter, telling his "dearest followers" last month he would be "away until May".


Gone are the days when the January sales season offered a welcome but narrow window for shopaholics to hunt for bargains on the High Street.

For a start, they do not have to wait for the new year. Many retailers started advertising cut-price deals well before Christmas.
Despite the advance of internet shopping, the image of snaking queues outside department stores is still how we picture the sales season.
Yet, it is not just High Street retailers that are offering bargains for cash-strapped consumers.
And, with the looming prospect of a hefty credit card bill arriving in January, people are trying to save money by looking for cheaper options.
So what discounts and money-saving tactics are around in the first month of the year?
Love is blind to everything but the calendar.
Official statistics show there are usually about a sixth of the number of weddings in January that there are in August.
With only about 6,000 or so weddings in England and Wales in the first month of the year, there is room to haggle for good deals on venues, photography and cars.
Civil partnerships are a little more spread out over the year, according to quarterly data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Yet, overall, good offers are available for these events, according to Sandy Moretta, director of the UK Alliance of Wedding Planners.
"Suppliers who only work in the wedding industry will come up with good offers in January, and they expect people to negotiate and haggle now," she says.
Although there is a specific cost to some services, such as food or a wedding dress, there are often deals available as "some work is better than no work", she adds.
Table displays can be cheaper if there is a winter feel of sprayed twigs, rather than much more expensive flowers. The cost of drinks is also generally lower, with couples often choosing to serve mulled wine and hot chocolate to guests rather than champagne.
And Mrs Moretta says that January weddings can be great fun for guests.
"January is one of those months where people are not doing a lot, they might need a lift after Christmas, and they are less likely to be shattered or hungover as they are in December," she says.
Cut-price tickets are available for West End shows from the start of January to mid-February,
The Get Into London Theatre scheme, an annual promotion that has run for more than 10 years, sees discounts of between 25% and 55% on the face value of 45 productions.
"We want to make theatre as inclusive as possible. We want to see people who have not necessarily been to the theatre before," a spokesman for the scheme says.
There is no booking fee or packaging charges for these tickets.
However, theatregoers may have to be flexible over which show they want to see and when.
Each theatre production decides individually what proportion of tickets will be made available for the cut-price promotion.
It may be the quietest time of year for the theatre, but some shows are still very popular. As a result, it is extremely unlikely that the cheaper tickets will be available for shows on a Friday or Saturday night.
Flights from the UK are far less packed with holidaymakers and business travellers in the first weeks of January - a time sometimes referred to as the "dead zone".
But the lack of demand means that flights can be cheaper, although this depends on whether the destination is in low season for tourists.
Some of the seven-day deals on offer for the start of January have included four-star self catering in Madeira for £195 and four-star all inclusive deals in Egypt for £405.
The end of December and start of January is traditionally the time that the travel industry launches its best deals for the summer, according to Sean Tipton, of travel association Abta.
These can include discounts and free places for children.
"It is very much a buyers' market," he says.
Shoppers may have flocked to charity shops to pick up Christmas cards in early December, but they might not necessarily put these stores on their list of January sales destinations.
Yet, figures from the Charity Retail Association show that like-for-like income has been increasing in the first quarter of the year, compared with previous years.
The latest figures show that, in 2012, the average weekly turnover per charity shop from January to March was £2,087, compared with £2,038 for the same charities in the same quarter a year earlier.
A spokesman says that specific January sales are usually limited to the bigger charity stores. In 2013, the British Heart Foundation said it had turned to opening larger furniture and electrical shops to build profits.
Meanwhile, the spokesman says that local charity shops are trying new measures in January to get themselves noticed on the High Street.
With house prices starting to rise sharply again across the UK, there are unlikely to be many bargain basement deals in the housing market.
However, estate agents say January is the time when the a whole host of new properties are put up for sale.
Seller behaviour means that the free time over Christmas is when many families come to a final decision about whether to put their home on the market, according to Jan Hytch, president of the National Association of Estate Agents.
That means that the new stock in the new year feeds through to increased sales a few months later, known in the industry as the "spring bounce".
In contrast, very few properties are marketed in November and December, which means very few sales are completed in January.
Transaction figures from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) show that sales in January and February are around two-thirds of the levels seen in the summer.
It is surely the most seasonal of stores, but the owner of the Nutcracker Christmas Shop says he has never needed to have a sale in January.
Robert Newman founded the business in 2001 and has opened all-year Christmas shops in Crieff, Edinburgh, and Callander in Scotland, and Stratford-upon-Avon in England.
He says he can ensure the stock comes in at the correct time of year, but there is always demand from shoppers.
"Not everyone has to have a sale," he says.
"We have never had one, and we have no plans to change."


A flood protection scheme in the south of the Isle of Man will cost £2.3m, according to the Manx government.

The work in Castletown, which received planning permission last year, will get under way on 8 May, and could take nearly 10 months to complete.
In January 2014 homes and businesses in the area were badly hit by widespread flooding and storm damage.
Reinforced concrete walls will be built at the edge of the harbour to combat further flooding in several streets.
Infrastructure Minister Ray Harmer said: "Climate change is making weather events of this nature a more frequent part of our lives.
"Castletown is one of the locations most at risk and we have prioritised a scheme around the harbour to protect people's properties and livelihoods."


Newport County caretaker boss Jimmy Dack has revealed he was offered the permanent manager's job but has opted to leave the League Two club instead.

Dack took over as caretaker when former manager Justin Edinburgh left for Gillingham in February.
"The offer was there for me but I just felt that it was the right decision now for me to move," Dack said.
"I've had four fantastic years seasons at this football club and I've given my all in every season I've been here."
Former England captain Terry Butcher, ex-Mansfield boss Paul Cox, ex-Cheltenham manager Mark Yates and ex-England striker James Beattie are all understood to be in the running for the vacant post.
Dack would not be drawn on his reasons for stepping down but confirmed he does not have another job lined up to go to.
"That's personal between me and Howard [director Greenhaf] and the football club," Dack said.
"I decided that I've been here four years now, I've given everything for four years and... I just thought the time was right for me to pass the baton on and let someone else take the club on.
"I've come in and I've probably dealt with more in three months than most managers do in three seasons... it's made me a better person and a stronger person for it."
However when asked, the 42-year-old admitted he would like to be a manager elsewhere.
"Yes, that could be a possibility, but I would be a number two elsewhere as well," Dack added.
Dack will oversee Saturday's final League Two game at home to Oxford United on Saturday 2 May and is aiming to leave on a high, saying "I'm going to get three points".
County were promoted from the Conference Premier in 2013 under the guidance of Edinburgh and Dack, an achievement Dack says was one of his proudest moments at the club.
But the Exiles look set for a third season in the division despite last weekend's 2-0 away win over York.
Although Newport are just three points outside the play-off places with one game remaining, seventh-placed Plymouth have a goal difference of plus-18 over the Welsh side.


Katie Boulter says she will "cherish" playing in the main draw at Wimbledon for the first time in her career.

The 20-year-old world number 246 has previously played in qualifying and in the girls' singles.
But next month's tournament is Boulter's first time in the women's singles, having been handed a wildcard.
She told BBC Radio Leicester: "I've put in all the hard work this year but I am fortunate to get a wildcard and am so thankful."
Find out how to get into tennis in our special guide.
Boulter, who is from Woodhouse Eaves in Leicestershire, was ranked in the top 10 players in the world during her junior career and is coached by former British number one Jeremy Bates.
The British number six added: "I am looking forward to playing and thankful to get the opportunity to test my skills against higher-ranked players.
"Each moment I will enjoy and I will cherish it for the rest of my life.
"Ultimately I am there to try to win matches. I just want to have fun and play my game and I don't doubt that I can do well."