Divernet News, dateline 18 November 2003
St Abbs is safe for divers - official
A joint statement by the diver training agencies has confirmed their view that St Abbs is a suitable dive site for trainee divers. This contradicts comments made by an 'expert witness' at the inquest into a diver death earlier this year.
Dive schools using St Abbs were in uproar after the reported comments of 'expert witness' Ian Neilson at an inquest into the death of diver John Hawkins. Neilson suggested that St Abbs was not a suitable location for training dives, news of his comments was broken on Divernet on 31 August.
Divers lobbied their training agencies to come out in support of the popular UK dive spot, and ScotSAC, PADI, BSAC and the SAA responded with a joint statement.
The statement reads; "Throughout the history and development of the sport of scuba diving in the UK, St Abb's has been consistently and reliably used as a safe diving location for all levels of diver, from complete beginner under the first stages of training, upwards."
Peter Scott, the Harbour Master at St Abbs, personally thanked the diving community for coming out in support of 'common sense'. "I think we've clarified that St Abbs is an excellent dive location, and is considered very suitable for divers under training by all diving authorities," he told Divernet.
Related links
Inquest into diver's death provokes confusion over safety standards
Descriptions of some of the dives around St Abbs
Information about diving at St Abbs, including map
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