Shipwreck divers have been warned not to disturb two protected sites off Northern Ireland’s North Coast, as the Newry Times reports.

Wreck diving has become a popular pastime this summer due to prolonged periods of sunshine and calm seas.

But suspected diving activity at a restricted site near Portballintrae has prompted an advisory to anyone tempted to explore Northern Ireland’s shipwrecks.

Divers are reminded that access to the wreck of La Girona, a Spanish Armada warship sunk more than 430 years ago, is restricted to licensed dives only on threat of prosecution.

Meanwhile, explorers of the HMS Drake, a WW1 cruiser sunk by a German U-boat in Rathlin Bay in 1917, may not remove artefacts from the wreck without prior consent. The Newry Times has more on the story HERE.