THREE divers were taken to hospital by helicopter suffering from the bends after they surfaced too quickly from a dive to a wreck 25 miles off Worthing.

The men were taken to Haslar Royal Naval Hospital in Gosport yesterday afternoon for treatment in a hyperbaric recompression chamber until 11.30pm.

It was the latest in a series of incidents involving the Brighton-based diving boat Spartacus.

Two divers died last August when they failed to return to the boat from a dive to the torpedoed steamship Moldavia, 25 miles off Littlehampton at a depth of 50 metres.

Athree-day search failed to find the bodies of John Watts, 50, and Robert Hadfield, 18, both from Leicestershire.

Mr Watts' body was washed up in November at the foot of the cliffs at Birling Gap, near Eastbourne. Mr Hadfield's body was never found.

And there were three other diving accidents in the 12 months before their deaths.

One diver suffered the bends while diving from the Spartacus off Worthing.

Another man diving from the boat off Littlehampton was rescued by helicopter after drifting out to sea.

Awoman using the boat off Littlehampton was taken to hospital with suspected bends.

Skipper Timothy Bennetto, 54, of Cissbury Avenue, Peacehaven, Mr Bennetto said that although he is trained in diving and first aid and his boat is licensed with the Marine Safety Agency, diver safety is not his responsibility.

He described himself as a "taxi driver" taking divers to and from local wrecks.

The three men involved in yesterday's accident were given oxygen on the Spartacus before the helicopter arrived to take them to Haslar.

Neil Coulson, 36, of from Nuneaton, Nick Cope, 39, from Ashby-de-la-Zouch, and Stewart Grant, 35, from Spalding, are all believed to have missed necessary stops as they surfaced from the 44-metre dive.

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