By Jenny Barwise

Last updated at 13:17, Tuesday, 17 November 2009

An inquest has been opened into the death of a diver who died after getting into difficulty at Wastwater earlier this month.

Stewart Wright, of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, died on Thursday, November 5.

Police received a call from the Coastguard at 11.20am saying that a diver was in difficulty in Wastwater, which is the deepest lake in England.

Despite what rescuers described as a heroic effort to help the 39-year-old by a fellow diver, he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police attended along with the Coastguard and air ambulance .

The diver was spotted by colleagues on the south-east shore after he surfaced and struggled to get to the shore, but onlookers said he was not moving. His body was identified by friend Ian Christopher Watson.

The inquest was opened and adjourned by Simon Ward, deputy coroner for north and west Cumbria.

First published at 11:38, Tuesday, 17 November 2009
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk