COACH Paul Turner and Newport Gwent Dragons have parted company after five-and-a-half-years.

Turner officially left the Dragons yesterday after an internal inquiry into recent incidents was completed.

The Dragons have appointed assistant coach Darren Edwards as interim head coach for the rest of the season with immediate effect, starting with Saturday’s Magners League fixture against Edinburgh at Rodney Parade.

A statement released by the Dragons says: “Newport Gwent Dragons wish to announce that Paul Turner’s employment with them as head coach has ceased by mutual agreement.

“The region wishes to express its thanks to Paul for the work he has done in past years and to wish him all the very best in the future.”

Turner said: “I’ve enjoyed my six years at the Dragons and am immensely proud to have been involved with the development of this region. I wish the players and staff all the best for the remainder of the season.”

The internal inquiry was conducted by new chief executive Mike Jenkins and was completed yesterday.

It followed incidents off the field which got Turner and the Dragons into hot water and led to complaints being made to the board of directors.

They held a meeting 15 days ago and decided to suspend Turner pending the outcome of that internal inquiry.

Of particular concern was the allegation made by Turner that Wales regular Dan Lydiate had been injured during a fitness session at their Vale of Glamorgan headquarters which forced him to miss their Magners League game against Connacht.

This was angrily denied by the Wales management and it is understood that certain assistance they had provided in manpower and training aides was withdrawn, though subsequently reinstated.

The Lydiate incident was followed by another involving a Welsh journalist after the Dragons had lost their final Heineken Cup pool game against Glasgow, which meant they had been beaten in all six group games for the first time.

Ironically, the Dragons have won their last two matches, both in the LV Anglo-Welsh Cup, which has put them into the semi-final where they will meet Gloucester at Kingsholm on March 13.

The team headed for Sale the day of Turner’s suspension and achieved a notable away victory, and they followed that up by beating the Scarlets to earn only their second semi-final place.

Turner is a former Newbridge and Newport outside half, holding points scoring records at both clubs, also playing three times for Wales.

He went into coaching as player-coach with Sale and then held positions, mainly as a backs/assistant coach, with Gloucester, Saracens and the Harlequins, from where he returned to his home region in 2005.

He succeeded controversial former Australian rugby league coach Chris Anderson and immediately set about trying to develop home grown talent.

He quickly realised that was the only way forward considering the financial constraints he had to operate under, never having the kind of money at his disposal that Newport and the Dragons had under former benefactor Tony Brown.

Turner can be credited with developing high calibre young players like Lydiate, Jason Tovey and Toby Faletau, among others, though some of his signings from home and abroad were questioned.

He leaves under something of a cloud, but his commitment to the region and the squad could never be questioned, putting in many hours and always being proud of the area he came from.

Edwards, a former scrum half, is a fellow Welshman, hailing from Maesteg, who returned to his native country last year from spells with Harlequins and London Irish after playing for a year with Newport when Brown was in charge of the operation. He is considered one of the bright young coaches in Wales and has already been put in charge of the national under-20 team, a position he will combine with his new Dragons post for the next six weeks.

Clearly, if Edwards makes a success of his interim post with the Dragons for the rest of the campaign he can expect to be given a new contract and be put in charge fully from next season.