Scuba diver gets swept away collecting scallops

BREAKING NEWS from the Press Association.......

A scallop-collecting scuba diver who supplies top chefs including Jamie Oliver was today lucky to be alive after he went missing at sea.
Darren Brown failed to reappear following a dive to collect scallops in Lulworth Cove, Dorset on Monday sparking a massive air and sea rescue.
Three Coastguard teams, RNLI lifeboats, Coastguard helicopter and the Royal Navy minehunter HMS Middleton joining the rescue.
The 41-year-old from Bovington was found three hours later, swimming with the tide near Ringstead Bay, three miles away.
Mr Brown said he had already been diving for an hour and a half when he got into difficulties.
He said: "But that's the joys of the job and the risks we take to supply the shell fish to these top celebrity chefs."
He was out diving again today and said: "You have to get back in the saddle."

Reading the quotes below from the Portland Coastguard regarding the incident and it is clear there are lessons there for all of us.
The spokesman said Mr Brown survived because of his dry suit and the fact he swam with the tide, not against it, to conserve energy.
"If you have a time the diver is due to surface and even after a few minutes he hasn't surfaced, assume there is a problem and contact the Coastguard," the spokesman said.
"He wasn't carrying any day flares or surface marker buoys which made it hard to find him.
"If you detach from your vessel and pop off a small mini flare people will see you straight away, but he had nothing like that with him.
"If it's just a head bobbing around in a very rough sea it's a very difficult target to locate. Most of the target is below the surface, and with two foot high waves you would struggle to find anyone.
"That's why we needed a large number of assets to locate him. He was a lucky chap."