Handbags at two metres

The woman was boating with her husband on the lake in central London’s Hyde Park when the handbag, containing her purse, house keys and car keys, slipped into the water.

The couple reported their loss to the lake’s Boat House, which got straight on the phone to Battersea’s Diving Leisure London.

“We got the call and went down there immediately,” company owner Alex Griffin told Divernet. Griffin and instructor Maxim Vinciguerra went in search of the bag, with Jen Grogan as surface cover.

“Diving into the lake to recover the bag, the visibility was pretty awful and the lake was about 2m deep,” said Griffin, “but we did some search patterns and, after about ten minutes, managed to find the bag.”

The divers surfaced with their valuable find and handed it to the “very, very happy” husband who was waiting on the Boat House pontoons.

 “Despite running a dive centre here, I think it's the first time any of us can say we’ve actually dived in central London!” added Griffin.

The divers were paid for their efforts by The Royal Parks.