Ecuadorian police have spoken for the first time about the horror revenge killing of a man believed to be British who was lynched by a baying mob.

He was dragged out of a police station in the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve in the South American country’s Amazon region and burnt alive by around 200 locals armed with guns and makeshift weapons.

The unnamed man had been arrested hours earlier on Sunday on suspicion of shooting dead a member of the local community.

The shooting victim has been named as Rodrigo Chavez.

A police chief covering Ecuador’s Sucumbios province said overnight, in the first official reaction to the double killing: ‘We are still trying to establish the specific identity of the citizen we believe is a British national.

‘We know that he was working and teaching English and was making reservations for tourists visiting the area but we don’t have any more information right now and that is the focus of ongoing investigations which are seeking to determine his full name as well.’

The police chief added: ‘There had been problems between the two men that died.

‘The man we believe to be British had shot a local man, causing his death. He was subsequently arrested by police.’ 

A picture of the reportedly British man when he was in police custody. His identity has been obscured pending formal identification

A man who is said to be British is alleged to have been lynched in Ecuador after being linked to the shooting of a member of the local community (pictured: crowds gathered at what is thought to be the scene of the shooting)

The victim of the shooting is taken from the scene

Describing the mob that stormed the police station and threatened to harm officers as around 200-strong, he said: ‘The locals acted after finding out the detainee was about to be transferred out of the area.

‘They were carrying guns and other weapons including stones, sticks, spears and even cans of petrol they were threatening to burn the police station down with and harm officers.

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‘The police did everything humanly possible to safeguard the person who had been apprehended over the shooting.

‘Unfortunately the size of the mob exceeded the capacities of the seven police officers who were at the scene.’

A source told MailOnline that the UK’s Foreign Office is following up on these reports, and that it is working with local authorities to confirm details of the man’s murder. 

He was killed around midday local time on Sunday, some six hours after he had been taken into police custody.

The Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve is a popular eco-tourism area.

It is the second largest reserve of Ecuador’s 56 national parks and protected areas, and is located in the Putamayo Canton in Sucumbios Province.