More than 150 divers braved sub-zero temperatures at Vobster Quay, near Frome, on Sunday to attempt a world record for the greatest number of simultaneous scuba diving Santas.

The record attempt was coordinated through the Scuba Santas website,

www.scuba-santas.co.uk

, and was an underwater challenge aimed at raising money for RNLI crew training.

The event was organised by the Yorkshire Divers group.

Gareth Lock was one of the 158 divers who donned a Father Christmas costume.

He said: "It was an amazing sight to see nearly 160 divers dressed in Santa costumes getting ready to jump into freezing water to raise money for the RNLI.

"The event had already raised £658 from a raffle and the group looked set to meet their target of £5,000 for the RNLI once all the donations were counted.

"The current total is nearly £3,500 and that includes a donation from Phoenix Divers from Essex who raised £2,000."

Mr Lock said if the divers do reach their target, Vobster Quay will donate a further £1,000 to the charity.

Lloyd Watkin, of Yorkshire Divers, said: "We've been raising money for the RNLI for a number of years. The life-saving work the volunteer crews do every day of the year is just amazing and as scuba divers we will never know when we might need to call upon them ourselves."