A 28-YEAR-OLD man has died in a diving accident at Tidenham’s National Diving Centre.

The victim suffered fatal chest injuries while diving at the 260ft-deep flooded quarry on Sunday afternoon.

A Gloucestershire Police spokeswoman said: "Officers were called by the ambulance service to the National Diving Centre in Tidenham, Chepstow, at 3.30pm on Sunday, October 8.

"A 28-year-old man from Essex who had been diving at the location sustained serious chest injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.

"The man’s next of kin and the coroner have been informed and his death is not being treated as suspicious."

The centre, which has sunken planes, helicopters, buses, armoured vehicles and a cruiser on the bed of the quarry, was the scene of another diver’s death three years ago.

Mary Restell, 54, from Tavistock in Devon was diving at a depth of 60m (197ft) with her husband, Roy, when she became unresponsive and was rushed to the surface.

An inquest heard how under-performing breathing regulators and a dense gas mix with a high nitrogen content all contributed to her death.

Gloucestershire coroner Katy Skerett gave a verdict of accidental death and said it was "a tragic accident" at a hearing last year.

In 2004, three divers died within six weeks of each other in two separate incidents at the site.