Divers 'with the bends' rescued

Three divers struck by the bends in two separate incidents off the Sussex coast have been flown to hospital.

Solent coastguards were called out at about 1615 BST on Saturday to a boat off Hove when two divers showed signs of decompression sickness.

They were picked up by helicopter and while it was on its way to a specialist unit in Portsmouth a diver off Bognor Regis reported similar symptoms.

He was picked up and they were taken to the Royal Hospital Haslar in Gosport.

Mike Williams, Solent Coastguard Watch Manager said: "In such incidents, speed is of the essence and our new Coastguard helicopter, an AgustaWestland AW139, can provide such a brisk response to these kinds of incidents.

"We're very grateful to the crew for providing such a rapid response to these sometimes life-threatening situations."