Diver feared dead after search teams scour the water

The heartbroken wife of a diver feared dead after he went missing off the Kent coast has described her husband as “compassionate, and kind and a gentleman in the truest sense”.

Father-of-three Ben Moss, from Faversham, disappeared between Walmer and St Margaret’s-at-Cliffe near Dover on Monday, sparking a huge search-and-rescue operation.

Married to Rosie for 10 “very happy years” this year, Ben is a father to three children, Monty, seven, Hector, five, and six-month-old daughter Tabby.

“He was strong and vibrant, yet gentle.” said Rosie.

Ben, who owns a flooring company based in France, loves diving and politics.

“He raged against injustice and cruelty in the world,” Rosie added.

He is also a fan of motor sport and listening to cricket, Elgar, Queen and what his wife describes as ‘weird podcasts’.

It was in Egypt on their honeymoon that Ben first learned to dive – together with Rosie. “How I wish he hadn’t,” she said. “But it gave him so much joy.

The couple came to Faversham from London in 2009 and were planning to move to Devon this summer – a step Rosie says that her and the children won’t make without him.

Ben was thought to have been diving with a partner to a wreckage near the patrol memorial at St Margaret’s-atCliffe when he vanished.

The alarm was raised when he failed to return to the boat last week and he was reported missing to police.

It is not known how long he was in the water before the alarm was raised.

A large-scale search involving coastguard and lifeboat teams followed, but the operation was called off last Tuesday evening.

Police confirmed specialist divers from the Metropolitan Police will continue to search the water.

A spokesman said: “Officers are working to establish the circumstances of the incident and locate the missing diver.”

Anyone with information should call police on 101