A FATHER yesterday accused a diving firm of failing in its duty of care to his son who died while inspecting an underwater gas pipeline off the Dutch coast.

Bryan Cleugh spoke of his frustrations during an inquest into the death of his son, Andrew Ross Cleugh, 29.

The commercial diver with an impeccable record was buried under a landslide caused by a tremor 22 metres below the surface.

Rescuers took 40 minutes to dig him from under the rubble. He was taken to a decompression chamber, where four Dutch doctors tried for nearly two hours to resuscitate him.

Mr Cleugh, of Bracken Close, Stanley, County Durham, said: "As far as I am concerned, this company has failed in its duty of care to all of its divers, not just Andrew.

"It is just disgusting. I am not at all pleased at how the Dutch authorities have handled things at their end."

Durham Coroner Andrew Tweddle, who had viewed a video from a camera attached to Andrew Cleugh's helmet, said the inquest, opened in December 2001, was the longest he had had on his books. A post-mortem examination was unable to ascertain the cause of death.

Mr Tweddle said the Dutch public prosecutor had decided there was no possibility of criminal proceedings taking place because "it would appear they ran out of time".

Returning a finding of accidental death, he said: "There has to be sufficient evidence of gross negligence on the part of an employer to justify a verdict of unlawful killing. I can only go on the evidence I have got.

"There are lots of issues I can see that haven't been investigated as thoroughly as they might, but as a coroner, my powers are limited and I cannot go any further than I have done."

Speaking soon after the tragedy on December 4, 2001, Mr Cleugh described his son as a "gentle giant" with an impeccable safety record.

Andrew, who was a former pupil of South Stanley Comprehensive School, travelled the world and had completed more than 3,000 dives.

He took up diving as a hobby about ten years before his death and went on to work as a professional scuba diving instructor in Malta. He was also involved in the construction of the supports that protect Gateshead Millennium Bridge.