FIFTY divers took the plunge to pay homage to the 2012 London Olympics.

Members of the Bolton Area Divers group and their families took part in an underwater Olympics themed scuba-dive at the Capernwray Dive Centre near Lancaster.

The group, which celebrated its10th anniversary earlier this year, meets regularly at its centre in the Brownlow Business Park and organises a special Christmas dive each year.

Previous festive efforts have seen divers enjoy an underwater Christmas dinner, an underwater circus and even an underwater disco.

On this occasion, divers turned out with specialist outfits and equipment to take part in a range of Olympic events.

They also re-enacted Danny Boyle’s famous opening ceremony from the 2012 event, including the famous scene where a James Bond figure jumped into the stadium by parachute allegedly strapped to Queen Elizabeth II.

Shereen Roberts, who runs the group with her partner Matt McMinn, said the dive was a huge success.

She added: “The diving area is really well set out which meant that all the family and friends of the divers were able to watch, the atmosphere was fantastic.

“The day started with the famous Olympics opening ceremony which saw divers carrying the flags of various countries — then we had people taking part in various Olympic events underwater including tennis, archery, martial arts and even underwater snowboarding.”

She added: “It was the biggest and best Christmas dive that we have done to date, everyone had a great day and we are already looking for ideas for the theme of next year’s Christmas dive.”

As well as having an active dive club, Bolton Area Divers is one of the biggest dive centres in the North West and teaches hundreds of people to scuba dive every year.

The group boasts more than 350 members who regularly enjoy dives in locations including Malta, Iceland and the Maldives.

For more information about the group, contact 01204 394441 or email shereen@boltonareadivers.co.uk