DIVERS are offering their sub-aqua expertise to help solve the mystery of a submerged vessel in the Lancaster Canal.

There has been speculation that a sunken craft at Stainton, near Kendal, may have been a floating hospital/morgue, used to transport the bodies of 1920s diphtheria victims.

Since last month's Gazette story, several diving experts have contacted Frank Sanderson, of the Lancaster Canal Trust, to express their willingness to explore the site - Field End - where the waterway widens into a turning basin, or winding hole.

Public relations officer Mr Sanderson says he has received a flurry of phone calls and emails since December's coverage sparked readers' interest. Among the callers was 90-year-old Wadeson Barrow, of Kendal, who shared his memory of hearing about a barge being sunk deliberately at that spot.

Mr Barrow told the Gazette that he remembered his father-in-law telling him the barge was sunk because it was infected with diphtheria.

"In those days there weren't the facilities there are now to clean it, so it was decided to sink it," said Mr Barrow, who was born and brought up 200 yards from Field End. His childhood memories include coal-laden barges destined for Kendal gasworks and Gatebeck gunpowder works, and day-trippers arriving at the canal by 'chara' from the mill towns.

Meanwhile, experienced divers fromKendal and Lakes Sub Aqua Club have been to photograph the site, with a view to exploring it in dry suits and snorkels, if permission is granted by the Canal and River Trust.

"It's got people talking," said Mr Loader. "We like something like this because it's something to do.

"We are going to have a think about it and see what we can do as a club project."

Mr Loader said that getting to the site was "not quite as simple as it first appears" because the canal was so muddy and shallow (less than 2m deep). The cold also posed a problem, with 5ºC waters likely to feel "pretty unpleasant" even in a dry suit.

"The limiting factor is your hands, because you need to use wet gloves," explained Mr Loader. "Once your fingertips have gone, it's not really safe."

He said it would be a case of "roping up and snorkelling to the area and doing a bit of probing", but first of all the water quality would have to be tested to rule out health risks such as Weil's disease.

If the sunken craft was indeed the wooden diphtheria barge, there was unlikely to be "much left of it", said Mr Loader.

And if it turned out to be a steel mud boat used for dredging the canal - as suspected by Lancaster Canal Trust vice-president David Slater - it would be "just a piece of scrap" by now.

"There's a patch in the reeds that's not as prolific," said Mr Loader. "It could be there's a rusting hull there. Who knows?"