A businessman is suing his ex-wife whom he claims deliberately sunk his £90,000 yacht.

Adam Fleming splashed out a small fortune on the vessel, named the Double Dragon, to try and save his failing marriage to Mandy.

But the craft sank to the bottom of Brighton Marina on Valentine's Day in 2004 and police found two holes drilled through the hull.

Mr Fleming claims his now ex-wife deliberately sabotaged the Double Dragon because she was furious he had spent so much on it. He is taking Mrs Fleming to court and suing her for £55,000 in damages.

Mrs Fleming has already appeared in court in connection with the incident but charges of wilfully endangering life and criminal damage were dropped because of a lack of evidence.

Mrs Fleming still denies any involvement in the mysterious sinking but said the purchase of the yacht had helped wreck their marriage.

They had been rowing frequently over money problems and she was furious with Mr Fleming's extravagance in buying the Double Dragon.

She told a national newspaper: "He said he wantedto get a boat for me and I thought he meant a little one.

"But he started looking at these great big things.

"I told him we couldn't afford it but he borrowed the money.

"He told everyone it was a love gift' for me but it effectively split us up. In 2003 I left him and we began divorce proceedings."

Mrs Fleming, of Carshalton, Surrey, said she had visited the yacht at Brighton with two friends on February 13, 2004 and returned home to London that night. She said she was told the following day the craft had sunk.

Mrs Fleming, 45, said: "I co-operated with the police fully and they told me all the portholes had been left open and two holes had been drilled in the hull fromthe inside, one 10mm wide, the other 6mm.

"If I was going to drill holes in the bottom of the boat I would have used a 22mm drill, and made three or four holes.

"But why would I sink it when it was part of our marital assets?"

The couple were divorced last July on the grounds of Mrs Fleming's adultry.

Mr Fleming told the national newspaper: "I could blow most of my exwife's claims out of the water but I've been told not to comment."

The yacht was repaired and subsequently sold.