The child was taken to Birmingham Children's Hospital after he was discovered in the water in the rear garden of a residential property in Moseley, Birmingham, shortly before 5.30pm on Saturday.

The boy had been reported missing to police around an hour earlier.

West Midlands Police confirmed that the boy died in hospital shorty before midnight.

A force spokesman said: "We can confirm that sadly he has died.

"West Midlands Police sends its sincere condolences to his family.

"It was a tragic accident. We ask that the family are left alone to grieve."

Police arrived at the scene in Anderton Park Road before paramedics and administered CPR, West Midlands Ambulance Service said.

A spokeswoman for West Midlands Police said: "Police were called to reports of a missing three-year-old boy at approximately 4.26pm from an address in Coppice Road, Moseley.

"The boy was later found in a pond in a residential garden in the area and has been taken to hospital. The circumstances are being investigated but at this stage it is not being treated as suspicious."