Former Southampton Diving Academy star Chris Mears has won gold at the Commonwealth Games.

The 21-year-old, from Reading, claimed victory for England alongside best friend Jack Laugher in the three-metre springboard.

The pair finished with a total of 431.94 to triumph at Edinburgh’s Royal Commonwealth Pool.

Mears and Laugher’s best dive was an inward three-and-a-half somersault, which scored 85.68 – one of three scores in the eighties in their six-dive set.

“That was awesome,” said Mears, who was fourth in the one-metre springboard. “I was absolutely gutted with the one-metre. I was so close to that bronze medal it put pressure on today.

“It’s great to come out and deliver today as well as we have.”

Mears, now based in Leeds, recovered from life-saving surgery to remove a ruptured spleen suffered while diving in 2009.

“I learnt a lot from what happened to me,” he added.

“I probably wouldn’t have made London if I hadn’t gone through that. I was a bit of a doss.

“It made me step up and realise that life only happens once and you have to work hard if you want to achieve your dreams.”

Laugher, 19, from Harrogate, now has three medals at the Games, having won the one-metre springboard individual crown and taken silver in the three-metre event.

He said: “The Commonwealth Games have been an absolute dream for me. I was hoping, if I could get lucky, to come away with three medals.

“To come away with two golds and a silver is absolutely fantastic.

“To do the last one with my best mate and to get that alongside each other is what we’ve been dreaming of all year.”