Diver Hector Bado is sueing the Uruguayan Government for £58 million alleging breach of contract over sea-bed treasure from Lord Nelson’s ship HMS Agamemnon.

The ship sank in a storm in 1809 in the estuary of the River Plate and Bado is fighting to salvage it and also pieces from the German pocket battleship Graf Spee which was scuttled in the same area.

Uruguay is a signatory to the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage, but President Batlle is reported to be working on a decree which will clarify salvage rules.