An inquest has opened into the death of a popular member of a running club who died while scuba diving abroad.

Justine Barringer was on holiday in Gran Canaria last month with her partner, her mother and her mother’s friend.

The 44-year-old, who was a police officer, was doing an open water dive on September 23 as part of an advanced Professional Association of Diving Instructors course.

Justine, of Sanderling Way, Iwade, was at a depth of 27 metres when she lost consciousness.

CPR was administered immediately when she was pulled up onto the diving boat and continued when ambulances arrived on shore. Despite these efforts, however, she could not be revived.

The inquest into her death, which was opened today at Archbishop’s Palace in Maidstone, heard a postmortem was carried out on Monday and the cause of death was given as “unascertained”.

Justine was a member of Beginners2Runners in Sittingbourne and regularly took part in events.

A full inquest hearing is due to be held on January 15.