An investigation has been launched into the police's contact with a man later found dead in a flat.

Police and emergency services were called to a property in North Ayrshire on Sunday morning and found a 44-year-old man dead inside.

He was pronounced dead at the scene on Hayocks Road, Stevenston, and an investigation was launched to establish the cause of dead.

Now a watchdog is investigating the man's interaction with officers before he was found dead.

The Crown instructed the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC) to carry out the probe.

A spokesman for the PIRC said: "The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) has instructed the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner to undertake an investigation in relation to the circumstances leading up to the death of a 44-year-old man following the discovery of a body at a residential property in Stevenson, Ayrshire, on September 18.

"The investigation will focus on the deceased's interaction with officers from Police Scotland prior to his death.

"A report on the commissioner's findings will be submitted to the COPFS in due course."