A MAN who died after getting into difficulties during an English Channel dive was from Brentwood.

Christopher Mehegan, 45, was airlifted to Eastbourne General District Hospital along with friend Peter Stanning, 44, from London, where both were pronounced dead.

The pair had been part of a dive group that had set out onto the Channel on Saturday, June 14 aboard a boat called the Channel Diver.

Christopher posted a picture on his Facebook page on Saturday morning showing the "flat, calm" English Channel with "overcast skies" ahead of what he described as "a mid channel >60m dive on board Channel Diver".

The picture was posted just hours before he and his dive partner encountered difficulties.

The Dover Coastguard contacted police at 1.40pm on Saturday to report two divers in difficulty in the Channel, near Eastbourne.

Sussex Police are investigating the cause of the deaths.

On Saturday, Det Chief Insp Mark Ling said: "Tragically two divers have died after getting into difficulty while diving in the Channel. We are informing their families and will be conducting an investigation into the circumstances."

A post-mortem examination is set to be carried out on Wednesday, June 18.

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