A police sergeant has smashed the British record for diving without equipment as he plummeted 230ft at a cave in Egypt.

Sussex Police response sergeant Dave Kent, 43, from Eastbourne dived to a British record without using oxygen, goggles, flippers or any other aid, holding his breath for two and a half minutes to accomplish the incredible feat.

Holding his breath is not a problem for Dave, who can go seven and a half minutes without breathing, it’s remaining relaxed when his lungs shrink to an eighth of their normal size.

He said: “The thing we need to do is equalise the ears and that’s the difficult thing for us because we’re constantly battling against our bodies.

“It’s our lungs that are screaming for air but we need to make sure air goes into the cheeks to relieve the pressure from the ears and all the while your brain is telling you that you need air elsewhere.

“It’s not about holding our breath, it’s about getting the balance and once you get that it’s strangely relaxing.

“The real hard work starts when you start your ascent - the first 20 or 30 metres are really tough.”

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The conditions were not ideal for diving at Blue Hole, a 430ft deep underwater cave in the Red Sea off Dahab, Egypt, but his training programme helped pull him through.

The former Royal Marine said: “I was given a five-month career break by Sussex Police to compete and train for which I’m so grateful.

“When I’m in training I like to get abroad so I usually go out to Egypt.

“My training only lasts about 45 minutes a day and will consist of two warm-up dives and then one deep dive.

“I’ll do an hour’s stretching in the morning and again in the evening and when I’m home it’s stuff like yoga and pilates.

“I wish I’d have started pilates years ago because it’s really helped.”

Competitors are given a time to dive and they only get one shot.

The night before a competition, divers enter the distance they want to attempt in a ballot-style format before being tied to a rope of that distance on the day.

Dave - who used to train with Bede’s geography teacher Dave King before the latter had to give up due to family and work commitments – has been free-diving for two years and has enjoyed a good run.

He added: “Thankfully I’ve never suffered any disaster dives, but I’ve been in the water when others have suffered some pretty horrific injuries.

“The nature of what we do means there is a lot of risk and people have burst bits of their lungs and throat and there can be complications with the trachea and coughing blood.

“My next goal is to beat that European record of 88m, and with another 18 months of training under my belt I’m confident I’ll be able to do it.”