The police divers who search our cold rivers...

THE waters of the Rivers Ouse and Foss run bitterly cold at this time of year. So cold that even a highly trained and fully equipped police diver can spend no more than 20 or 30 minutes under the water at a time .

That is one of the many reasons why searching the River Ouse is such a difficult, time-consuming job.

The sight of police diving teams in York has become all too familiar this year. First 20-year-old York St John University student Megan Roberts disappeared, following a night out with friends. It was feared she had fallen into the River Ouse near Lendal Bridge. Her body was found in the river six weeks later, following an intensive search by divers.

By the time her identity had been confirmed, a second young person had disappeared. Ben Clarkson, a 22-year-old former student, disappeared after a night out with colleagues on March 1. His body was found in the River Foss 20 days later, again after an extensive search by divers.

Now diving teams are out again, following the disappearance of soldier Tyler Pearson. The 18-year-old went missing in the early hours of last April 3. He is thought to have been trying to swim across the River Ouse from Kings Staith to Queens Staith. Once again, the banks of the river have been cordoned off as divers search the waters.

It is a difficult yet hugely important job. Police divers were crucial in giving some kind of closure to the families of Megan and Ben after their bodies were discovered.

The teams who search the waters at these difficult times are fully trained and equipped. But nothing can completely prepare you for the trauma of finding a a body, admits Inspector Mark Bishop, the head of Underwater Search and Marine Operations for Yorkshire and the Humber.

“Police officers never 100 per cent get used to looking for and recovering dead bodies," he says. "Lots of officers treat it as purely task orientated and try and separate the emotion."

In that way, he says, it’s no different from the job of a nurse or doctor.

Members of the police underwater search team have typically been police officers for some time.

They then take an eight-week course to become divers. Their training covers safety measures, protocols and techniques that will enable them to dive to depths of up to 50 metres, in conditions that may be less than favourable.

The waters are usually dark and dank and muddy, so that visibility is low to zero. There are difficult currents and freezing temperatures – not to mention the refuse and debris that can line river beds. Scuba diving in Tenerife this is not.

A police diving unit is usually made up of a sergeant, plus nine staff. Five or six of these are qualified divers, the others support staff. During a dive, there will usually be one officer in the water with a supervisor and stand-by diver on the bank as a safeguard and support.

When searching vast expanses of water such as the River Ouse, the river will be divided into segments. Each is searched carefully. Working against currents and low visibility, everything is done by touch, sometimes using a series of weighted ropes to enable the divers to search yet more methodically.

Modern 'through water' communications technology helps, enabling divers to remain in touch with their support teams on the bank.

Whenever police diving units are called out, they are bound to attract attention. In the wake of the tragic deaths of Megan and Ben, that interest is intensified.

People are naturally interested in how the search and recovery operations work, says Mark, a policeman of 22 years standing who manages the underwater search teams for the four forces covering North, West and South Yorkshire, as well as Humberside.

But the attention is an "added factor of pressure” on the divers, he says. At the same time as negotiating the difficult conditions present underwater, officers find themselves answering questions about their work.

At times, the attention can be almost overwhelming, especially when the public gets too close. “There are occasions when we are engaged in a dive and so we have to cordon off areas and ask the public to keep their distance so that safe working conditions can be maintained.”

Inevitably, as the number of incidents involving York's rivers grows, there are calls for improved safety measures.

There has been a wave of tragic accidents in York and Leeds over the years, Mark says, with young people getting into trouble in the cities' rivers. Both local councils have responded to campaigns for more extensive barriers and other safety measures around the rivers.

The recent River Safety Summit held in York brought forward a number of ideas for improving safety, including greater engagement with students and more thorough training of bar door staff and the police.

Mark welcomes all such debates. “There is a great need for people to be aware of the causes before such sad and tragic things happen," he says.

One factor, although it is certainly not involved in every case, is alcohol. "Alcohol awareness is something that needs to be stressed to young people in particular,” Mark says.

And what about increasing barriers and safety provisions next to rivers?

It would be impractical to guard every point of York's river banks, Mark points out .

So perhaps what is needed is safety improvements at certain strategic points along the Ouse and Foss. That, and a better understanding by everyone of the dangers of York's two rivers.