FRIENDS of a Southampton graduate who drowned during a diving trip on the Great Barrier Reef claim staff deleted photos that were taken shortly before the doomed young woman left the boat.

Bethany Farrell, 23, died earlier this year while in Australia, a week into her dream gap-year when she went scuba diving for the first time.

Two people who were on the boat when the former Southampton Solent student died on February 17 have taken to TripAdvisor to criticise tour company Wings Diving Adventures for its handling of the tragic circumstances.

While one of the reviews criticises the way people on the boat were treated amid the panic, a friend makes the shocking claim that photos of the backpacker shortly before she died were deleted.

And Bethany’s father is devastated that picture evidence, which may have been able to explain some of the mystery behind the drowning, was discarded before police could see it.

Patrick Farrell, 47, of Essex, said there was “no excuse” for what happened and that “great mistakes” were made.

She was found 11 metres down on the seabed in Blue Pearl Bay, a popular diving spot and a post mortem determined the cause of death was drowning.

Reviews on TripAdvisor said her dream trip had become a nightmare.

One reviewer wrote: “We got in contact with wings solely because they had pictures their staff had taken of the three of us before the dive. Wings deleted these pictures to make way for pictures of their next trip.... despite the likelihood of the police wanting those pictures as evidence “Wings have made no effort in contacting our friend's family to express their condolences, we feel they are an absolute disgrace.”

So far Wings have not commented on the accusations.

Bethany, who studied English literature and media at Southampton Solent University, had been in Australia for a week, having planned to stay there for a year.

The case is being investigated by Queensland Police.