A COUPLE have told how their worst fears came true when their daughter died in a diving accident in Fiji.

Bob and Rose Mary Jennings learnt of the death of Deborah Jane, 25, in a telephone call on Sunday night.

The graduate student, from Hutton Rudby, near Stokesley, North Yorkshire, was travelling with her boyfriend of three years, Andrew Keely, when disaster struck on the final leg of an exotic adventure that had taken them to Indonesia, India and Thailand.

Mr Jennings, 60, said he had fears about the trip from the moment Deborah left, last November.

He said: "It was soon after September 11 and a lot of people were doubtful about travelling, and I wanted her to put it on hold.

''I just had a terrible feeling about it - in fact, at the station I thought I wonder if I'll ever see you again."

Mrs Jennings, 55, said: "We thought she was safe when she got to Fiji. We had been there ourselves and even stayed in the same hotel, 30 years ago."

Deborah was taking time out after finishing a masters degree in ecology, and had a love of marine life and conservation. She was also an experienced diver and had completed a scuba course.

A post-mortem examination found the cause of death to be pulmonary barotrauma, an expansion of gas in the lungs, usually caused by coming to the surface too quickly.

Mr Jennings said: "We know that she was having breathing difficulties - what we don't know is why that meant she had to go to the surface so quickly."

The family is waiting for more information, results of tests and checks on her equipment.

Mr Keeley, from Essex, identified Deborah's body, and was so upset he could not speak to anyone at first. He is still in Fiji, arranging to have Deborah's body brought home.

It is expected Deborah's body will be flown home on Friday and buried in Hutton Rudby, although no funeral arrangements can be made until a coroner gives the go-ahead.

Mr Jennings used to work for ICI and his wife for the Bradford and Bingley building society, in Stokesley.

Deborah was a former pupil of Hutton Rudby Primary School, Stokesley Comprehensive and South Park Sixth Form College, Middlesbrough.