A former army captain is mid-way through his second attempt to swim to the Isle of Man from the north west of England.

If successful, Adam Diver will be the first to have completed such a feat, with a relay team having attempted it years ago and failing.

Mr Diver, from Fleetwood in Lancashire, is taking on the 32-mile (51km) challenge from St Bees in Copeland, Cumbria to Port Mooar.

He is raising money for Burnley-based charity Healthier Heroes CIC, which helps veterans overcome social isolation, homelessness and improve mental health and wellbeing in the community.

The page has so far raised £9,750.

The 45-year-old tried to do the swim last year, setting off from St Bees on July 22, 2022, but had to abandon his world record attempt just four hours into the journey.

Around seven miles in the winds had picked up considerably, creating unsafe conditions in the water.

Mr Diver’s support team this time includes a medic, two kayakers and an engineer.

One of the kayakers accompanying him said the team had made it halfway, as of Monday evening after setting off at 8am that day.

He said that the swimmer was still ‘feeling strong’ despite being stung on his feet and hands by lion’s mane jellyfish and swimming ‘face first’ into a jellyfish.

He decided to take on the 32-mile swim after joking two years ago that he should swim to see his parents, who live in Peel, due to the Covid-19 restrictions at the time.

Mr Diver, who served tours in Afghanistan, Iraq and Bosnia, trained for the challenge at a wave pool at Fleetwood Nautical Campus, where he works.

The GoFundMe page can be found here.