British Tesco executive, 50, dies while paddle boarding off of Lanzarote

• Ofer Deshe, 50, was pulled out of the sea by surfers at Famara Beach yesterday 
• Medical responders tried to revive him after he had gone into cardiac arrest
• Mr Deshe, Tesco's head of design and research, was pronounced dead at scene

A British Tesco executive has died while stand-up paddle boarding off the coast of Lanzarote. 

Ofer Deshe, 50, was pulled out of the sea by surfers after getting into difficulties off the spectacular Famara Beach yesterday afternoon.

Medical responders desperately tried to revive him after he went into cardiac arrest.

But their attempts to save Mr Deshe, Tesco's head of experience design and research, proved unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at the scene. 

A spokesman for a regional government-run emergency services coordination centre said: 'The man who died was aged 50.

'We received an alert at 3.36pm yesterday saying he had been pulled out of the water and was in cardiac arrest and attempts to revive him were being carried out.

'The appropriate emergency medical response was activated immediately and the medical responders continued with the attempts to save him after reaching the scene.

'The attempts proved unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at the scene.'

A spokesman for the Civil Guard said: 'We can confirm a 50-year-old British man has died in circumstances which are still being investigated.

'There is nothing at this stage to indicate the death is in any way suspicious.

'The autopsy will determine the cause of death.'

Well-placed sources said they believed the autopsy could point to the death being the result of natural causes and not drowning, although unsubstantiated local reports before the autopsy have indicated he died from drowning.

Autopsy results are not normally made public in Spain.

One source said the Briton, thought to have been based in Bath, Somerset, was aided by surfers after he got into difficulties near rocks and was seen collapsing on to his stand-up paddle board before falling into the sea.

The source added: 'He had no ID on him, just a Go-Pro camera, but police were able to discover who he was after spotting him leaving a nearby apartment on CCTV to head to the water.'

It was not immediately clear if the dead man was holidaying on Lanzarote alone or with family or friends.

Mr Deshe, thought to be an accomplished stand up paddle boarder, was born in Haifa in Israel but studied at university in the UK. He travelled to Lanzarote on a British passport.

He lectured at University College London and worked for Deutsche Bank before becoming MD at City of London-based Tobias & Tobias, whose main clients are large investment banks, asset management firms and insurance companies.

He became Tesco's Head of Experience Design and Research in June last year.

In an online profile in December 2017, when he said he was living in Bath, Mr Deshe described himself as a keen sportsman whose main passions were swimming, surfing and paddle boarding.

He added: 'When I am on land, which is most of the time, I love cycling.

'I used to love time trials and triathlons but I got bored of measuring everything.

'After more than 10 triathlons and other events, I prefer to go for long riding adventures and experience the world around me, not the heart rate monitor, a stopwatch or a speedometer.'

Famara Beach is regarded as the most spectacular beach in the municipality of Teguise.

It is popular with water sports enthusiasts including bodyboarders, kite surfers and windsurfers as well as paragliders who launch themselves off the the top of the Famara massif.

The spot where Mr Deshe was pronunced dead is understood to be Famara Pier, a favourite spot for local surfers who have to have a good surfing level to catch waves because of the rocky and rugged bottom.