Injured diver flown to hospital

A man has been flown to hospital after being badly injured while diving off the Northumberland coast.

Lifeboat crews treated the man for serious cuts to his head on the deck of a diving boat near the Farne Islands on Saturday afternoon.

A RNLI spokesman said the injuries were consistent with having been struck by the boat's propeller while resurfacing.

The diver, aged in his late 30s, was taken ashore and flown to Wansbeck General Hospital by air ambulance.

Ian Clayton, of Seahouses lifeboat station, said: "The man had deep cuts to his head and some on his hands, there was a lot of blood.

"He was confused and dazed and was unsure how he'd been injured but the cuts were consistent with having been hit by the stationary propeller as he was resurfacing."