Emergency services were called on Sunday afternoon to assist a diver who resurfaced unconscious near West Bexington.

The alarm was raised by coastguards at 2pm after the diver and his 'buddy' surfaced off West Bexington, and Lyme Regis lifeboat crew was launched.

The diver – whose names has not been released – was winched from the Portland-based dive boat, Skin Deeper, to a coastguard helicopter and taken to Poole for treatment in the hospital's decompression chamber.

His 'buddy' Jeff Everett, 67, was taken to Lyme Regis aboard the lifeboat and assessed by an ambulance crew at the lifeboat station and later allowed home.

Mr Everett, from Warlingham in Surrey, and his colleague were diving on the wreck of the WWII ship, St Dunstan.

He said: "We dived to 28 metres and my colleague, to whom I was tethered, gave me a signal that he was not ok so we started to ascend. Things seemed alright until we rose to about  10metres when he did a rapid ascent and then I knew he was unwell.

"When we surfaced I inflated our lifejackets and we floated on our backs and signalled for help to our dive boat."

Mr Everett, an accountant, has been diving for 40 years.

He added: "This was the first time I had been in any difficulty while diving. I have supported the RNLI for many years and I am very grateful for their help."