LOVING tributes have been paid to a pair of diving buddies who tragically died during an Easter diving expedition.

Hank Austin, from Ascot, and Janine Davison-Evans, from Sunningdale, died after they went diving in a flooded quarry in Gloucestershire on Good Friday.

Family and friends of the pair paid tribute to them last week after police divers recovered their bodies from the Dayhouse quarry in Tidenham on Easter Monday.

A statement released by their families said: “Janine and Hank were truly loved and will be sadly missed by all their friends and family.”

Neighbours of 25-year-old Mr Austin, from New Road, were said to be shocked by the tragedy saying he was a “lovely man”.

One neighbour, who did not wish to be named, said: “He was a smashing lad. We are all in shock — it’s awful.”

Mr Austin is believed to have lived with his parents Janet and John and his younger brother Andrew, 22, and worked in nearby Ascot racecourse as a chef.

He had been a pupil at Ascot Heath Primary School and attended Ranelagh before sitting his A-levels at Charters and embarking on a career in

catering.

Ms Davison-Evans, 27, came from Roseworth in Stockton-on-Tees but was living in Sunningdale and working as a nanny in the area.

The pair were reported missing by staff at the quarry, which is part of the National Diving Centre, on Friday, April 9, after staff noticed their car was still in the car park at the end of the day.

Police have continued to investigate the quarry, which runs up to 80 metres deep in places — the deepest in the United Kingdom, and have urged anyone who was at the centre on Good Friday to contact them.

Anyone with information should contact Gloucestershire police on (0845) 090 1234.

n Deaths not being treated

as suspicious by police — see page 13