A fresh inquest has been ordered by the High Court into the death of a diver from Bradford who went missing.

Father-of-two Richard Hartley, 43, failed to resurface after an exploratory dive around a shipwreck off the coast of Anglesey on July 17, 2003.

Two senior judges yesterday said the original inquest took place before Mr Hartley's remains were discovered inside the wreck months after his disappearance.

A new inquest was now necessary because the discovery had resulted in new evidence coming to light which could be "of importance to the diving community in terms of safety and diving procedures".

They also said the position in which the body was found could help in establishing what had happened and the cause of death.

Mr Hartley had been diving with his brother Graham and five others from the Bradford British Sub Aqua Club, which is based in Queensbury.

A search covering 400 square miles of coast and sea was called off the following day because he was not expected to survive longer than eight hours in the water.

Richard and his brother Graham had been about 40 metres down searching the 42-metre wreck of the Cambank when Richard failed to resurface.

Graham Hartley had started the ascent when he realised his brother was missing, but Graham could not go back down.

They left the wreck at 2.45pm and were due back on board the boat at 3.15pm with the ascent taking half an hour from such a depth.

At the time of the tragedy Mark Robinson, chairman of the Bradford diving club, said: "The news was more incredulous as Richard was known to be a very safe and cautious diver, well respected by members of the club and loved by all who had dived with him."

The coroner for North West Wales, Dewi Pritchard-Jones, based in Caernarfon, held the first inquest, which returned an open verdict, in March 2004.

The coroner had to apply to the Home Secretary for jurisdiction for the inquest because Mr Hartley's body had not been recovered.

But a month after the open verdict, divers exploring the wreck of the SS Cambank off Anglesey found skeletal remains inside the vessel and equipment and clothing bearing Mr Hartley's name.

As a result, the coroner took the exceptional step of asking Lord Justice Keene and Mr Justice Poole at the High Court in London to quash the open verdict and order a fresh hearing.