Ross Kemp had planned to film TV show on Titanic sub

Ross Kemp had planned to film a television show that involved a dive to the Titanic wreck site in the OceanGate submersible - but it was cancelled over safety fears.

The actor, known for playing Grant Mitchell in EastEnders, was going to visit the wreck in the sub last year.

But TV company Atlantic Productions deemed the Titan not "fit for purpose".

OceanGate's Titan sub imploded, killing all five passengers, during a trip to the wreck this week.

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Mr Kemp's agent at InterTalent, Prof Jonathan Shalit, said the production company had carried out checks on the OceanGate submersible, but had deemed it unsafe.

"They found other sub dives which have been safe and successful but, by that point, Ross was so busy with all his TV shows that he was unable to commit the time," he said.

"I am just relieved not to have had my post note in history as the agent who killed Ross Kemp."

BBC News has contacted Atlantic Productions for comment.

The Sun newspaper reported Kemp had wanted to mark the 110th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic in 2022.

Kemp has previously taken part in Sky History programmes which involved him deep-sea diving, including Shipwreck Treasure Hunter and Deep Sea Treasure Hunter.

The US Coast Guard confirmed all five men on board OceanGate's Titan sub were instantly killed in a "catastrophic implosion" - a violent inwards collapse, and parts of the vessel were found near the wreckage of the Titanic.

The five people on board were the CEO of OceanGate, Stockton Rush, British billionaire explorer Hamish Harding, French diver Paul-Henry Nargeolet and father and son, Shahzada Dawood and Suleman Dawood.

Leading deep-sea exploration specialist Rob McCallum told BBC News he had warned Mr Rush in 2018 that he was potentially putting his clients at risk, and urged him to stop using the sub until it had been certified by an independent agency.

In a tense email exchange seen by the BBC, Mr Rush dismissed safety concerns about the Titan as "baseless cries of 'you are going to kill someone'", and said he took them "as a serious personal insult".