Policeman dies after getting the bends on Met's scuba club trip

A Met police officer has died following a diving accident on a force scuba club trip.

The 57-year-old man was airlifted to hospital with another diver after getting into difficulties off the coast of Worthing.

The men - believed to be suffering from the bends - were on a diving trip from 30ft catamaran Proteus, which was bought last year by the Metropolitan Police's Sub Aqua Club.

A Sussex Police spokesman said: "Two men were airlifted to hospital from a boat on Saturday afternoon.

"They were taken to Worthing Hospital by Coastguard helicopter where one, a 57-year-old from Watford, subsequently died. The other man was discharged on Sunday morning." He added: "Police are not treating the death as suspicious and a post mortem will be held to determine the cause of death."

The dead man has not yet been formally identified, said the spokesman.

He was said to be a child abuse investigation officer with the Met but was not on duty when the emergency services were called at lunchtime.

A spokesman for the force said: "This is a very sad incident but we await formal identification before we can comment further."

The Sub Aqua Club was established 30 years ago and has about 80 members.

Its Blyth catamaran Proteus is based in Littlehampton Marina and is used every weekend between April and November by serving and retired officers who are members of the club.