Search goes on for diver missing off Farne Islands
- Published
The vessel was north of Longstone Lighthouse when the diver went missing
A police marine team is continuing to search for a diver who has been missing for more than 24 hours off the coast of Northumberland.
The man disappeared in the North Sea on Sunday at around 11:30 BST, and a multi-agency operation was launched.
He had been diving from a vessel north of Longstone Lighthouse in the Farne Islands when he failed to resurface.
A major sea search involving two coastguard helicopters and several RNLI volunteer crews has taken place.
Local charter and dive boats also joined to assist the search, Amble Life Boat Station, external said on Monday.
"The search [on Sunday] continued into the late afternoon and night with our all weather lifeboat launching around 17:30 shortly followed by RNLI Berwick upon Tweed lifeboats, while Seahouses crew headed back to station to get some rest after being out at sea most of the day," it added.
"As the search continued into the night both lifeboats had their search lights out and [were] also firing white illuminating parachute flares into the sky to give extra light on the search areas they had to cover."
It added that Berwick and Seahouses RNLI crews continued the search into Monday evening.
A specialist police search will continue into Tuesday
A Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) spokesperson said despite "extensive shoreline and maritime searches" to locate the missing diver, nothing was found.
The MCA said its search was stood down at about 12:50 BST on Monday pending further information.
Northumbria Police said its specialist unit would continue on Monday night and Tuesday.
Several RNLI crews, along with smaller boats, took part in the search
"Shortly before 12:45 on Sunday we received a call from the coastguard to report a concern for the welfare of a male driver," a force spokesperson said.
"It was reported that the individual had been diving near Longstone Lighthouse, Farne Islands, near Seahouses, when he failed to resurface."
Allow Twitter content?
This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Follow BBC North East & Cumbria on Twitter, external, Facebook, external and Instagram, external. Send your story ideas to northeastandcumbria@bbc.co.uk, external.