The designations bring to 50 the number of naval ships protected since 2002 under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986.

All have been designated as Protected Places (look-but-don't-touch) except for one which was made a Controlled Site (total diving ban) due to persistent rummaging of the wreck, including disturbance of human remains.

Speaking on behalf of the joint BSAC, SAA and PADI Respect Our Wrecks group, the SAA's Stuart Bryan told Divernet:

'The diving organisations which constitute Respect Our Wrecks have been consulted about the new list of vessels protected by the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 and support the use of Protected Places in the majority of designations, as this is in agreement with respectful diving of wrecks.Â?

'The issues that have made Controlled Site designation necessary are regrettable, but all of the diving community need to recognise that such protection will result from bad diver behaviour.'

The new designations:

Controlled Site: UB81, Hampshire.

Protected Place: HMS Acheron, Hampshire; HMS Swordfish, Hampshire; HMS Blackwood, Dorset; HMS Boadicea, Dorset; HMS M2, Dorset; HMS M1, South Devon; HMS Warwick, North Cornwall; UB65, North Cornwall; HMS Vandal, West Scotland; HMS Bullen, Cape Wrath; HMS K4, East Scotland; HMS K17, East Scotland; HMS Exmoor, Lowestoft; HMS Umpire, North Sea; HMS Vortigern, North Sea.

The Government's Statutory Instrument listing all MoD protected wrecks can be seen at www.opsi.gov.uk