AFTER an encounter with a reluctant policeman and an epic drive through the Spanish mountains the divers charged with pillaging a wreck off the Galician coast have finally got their equipment back.

But the Falmouth based group still face the possibility of criminal charges in a dispute over whether they dived on the wrong wreck in a salvage operation authorised by the Spanish government.

Pete Devlin, of Longfields, Falmouth, put together a team of expert divers to salvage the wreck of the Friesland last May. The ship sank in the 1800s with a cargo of tin now worth up to £650,000.

The team included Mr Devlin, who runs Force 9 Salvage, Alan Moody, from Falmouth, Malcolm Cubin, from Penryn, Steve Russ, from Porthleven and Janik Alverez from London.

Shortly after starting their dive the men were arrested and accused of plundering another nearby wreck, the Dom Pedro, of gold and diamonds.

Project investor and diver Alan Moody, also from Falmouth, says the Spanish authorities have no evidence to support their claim despite a team of ten navy divers diving on the site for the last two months.

"It's a complete farce," he said "They have dived at least ten times and even they can't confirm what wreck it is. How the hell were we expected to have done it with only two dives.

"They are just playing out our hardship because they know they are going to be embarrassed by it all.

"They fully expected to find contraband when they arrested us and they have found nothing. Once this is all over we will be suing the authorities for compensation for hundreds of thousands of pounds."

The van and all the equipment inside was confiscated after their arrest in June leaving the divers thousands of pounds out of pocket.

They were finally granted a document of release by a Spanish judge after paying a £4,000 bond for release of the majority their kit, worth around £20,000 while investigations continued.

Mr Moody went to a Spanish police compound near Madrid with Mr Alverez where their equipment had been stored to pick up their van and all their diving equipment. The police kept their computer and video equipment as evidence.

After a lengthy argument with a Spanish plainclothes policeman over whether they should have made an appointment or not, the men finally got their equipment back.

A journey across the Asturias Mountains to Santander to catch the ferry home nearly ended in disaster after the drive shaft on the van snapped.

Stuck at night in the middle of nowhere they had to be rescued by a German woodcarver and his Spanish friend who turned out to be a master mechanic. They eventually returned home last Friday.

Falmouth MP Candy Atherton became involved after the men asked her to help. She contacted the Foreign Office, Spanish Ambassador and British Consulate asking them to intervene.

Candy said retrieving some of the confiscated items was a first step but she continued to hope the Foreign Office would intervene, through the British Consulate, and help end this nightmare.

"My constituents have been treated like pirates and have only retrieved this equipment after three months of delays constantly being fobbed off by the Spanish authorities. They then have to find the time and money to travel to Galicia to collect it themselves. It is simply unacceptable and I still believe they could be due some form of compensation."