POLICE divers who discovered hero dad David McHugh's drowned body told how they struggled to find him among the debris dumped at the bottom of the Blue Lagoon at Belmont, Bolton

Passers-by who had helped rescue his seven-year-old son Daniel returned to the scene to pin-point exactly where the drama happened in an attempt to speed up the tragic recovery operation.

Mr McHugh was found around five metres down in the picturesque Belmont reservoir almost 24 hours after the accident following an intensive 10-hour search - split in two by the dark of night.

The horrific find confirmed what police and relatives already knew - but brought the terrible tragedy home in the worst kind of way.

Frogmen from the Lancashire and Cumbria Underwater Search Unit had looked through the water for about five hours.

The wetsuit-clad men were forced to carry out a carefully planned fingertip search, concentrating on the area where he was last seen.

Police also praised the actions of passers-by Ben Melia, Michael Davies Walkden men who jumped in the water rescuing Daniel and attempting to rescue his father.

Inspector Stuart Caley of Lancashire Police said: "They managed to rescue the child, but despite valiant attempts they were unable to locate the father.

"The actions of these young men were extremely courageous and credit worthy. They saved the life of a young child without thought or any concern for their own safety."

A full report on this tragic incident will appear in the print version of the BEN on Friday and on this web site with our mid-day update.