Divers will be banned from entering British shipwrecks in a matter of weeks as the Armed Forces Bill cleared at third reading in the House of Lords on Tuesday.

The new legislation will give shipwrecked vessels a “protected places” label, meaning divers will be able to look at them but not touch or go inside them.

Under the current laws in place , more than 100 shipwrecks have made the list of protected places after given the designation by government ministers.

The new legislation is expected to provide legal protections to thousands of sailors and mariners who have lost their lives at sea.

Under existing laws, more than 100 wrecks are on the list of protected places after ministers stepped in to give them the designation.

Among them is HMS Nottingham, a cruiser which sank during the First World War in 1916 and was discovered in the North Sea around 70 miles off the Northumberland coast last year.

French minesweeper Emile Deschamps, which was lost off the Kent coast in 1940 carrying troops as part of…