A British diver has died after becoming trapped inside an underwater cave system in France.

The 43-year-old diver, who has not been publicly named yet, had entered the Gouffre de Saint-Sauveur cave system on Friday, but became stuck.

He is said to have become entangled in the guide line in a narrow passage deep underwater.

The alarm was raised after he failed to return to the surface at the mouth of the caves located in Calès in southwestern France.

He was part of a group of eight British cave divers.

The diver had descended into the caverns at about 3.30pm.

When he didn’t resurface, his diving companions alerted the emergency services at about 8pm, according to La Dépêche.

Specialist cave rescue teams, along with firefighters, scoured the area until around midnight.

Another large-scale operation was launched on Saturday, with more equipment and teams arriving by helicopter, including the Gendarmerie’s marine brigade from Marseille.

Hopes rose that the man might have reached an air pocket at a depth of 262 ft (80m), but he was not there.

He had set off with an eight-hour oxygen supply plus a second tank, which was later found unused.

When the ‘complex’ search resumed on Sunday, a body was discovered underwater at about 288 ft.

Rescuers were unable to immediately retrieve his body due to ‘extremely difficult’ conditions, public prosecutor Clara Ribeiro said.

Along with narrow passages, the rescue divers’ movements muddied the waters, making visibility poor.

An investigation into his cause of death has been launched by the Gendarmerie.

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