Searches for missing people, recovery of stolen property, security searches including the hulls of ships and recovering other items of value… the list goes on as the work continues for the Underwater Search Unit.

The unit’s divers are regular police officers who are also commercially qualified, which means they can dive in any of South Yorkshire's stretches of water including the canals and even sewers!

They will recover anything that is required by other members of the police force from discarded stolen property to items required as evidence.

Sadly, it is drowning victims that most people imagine when thinking of the Underwater Search Unit but thankfully this takes up the least of their time.

In the waterways of South Yorkshire, while working in the mud at the bottom, the diver cannot see anything at all. Even powerful torches have little use as the mud simply reflects the light back like fog does to car headlamps.

The result is that the divers use ropes and weights, and feel their way along the bottom of the river. This may sound like quite an unpleasant way of doing the job and it is!

The health hazards associated with diving in polluted water have to be addressed and divers wear dry suits and full-face masks to minimise the risks of infection from water-born diseases.

Training is an ongoing process for police divers and only if they pass their annual medical can they continue with their duties.