A British cave diver who helped rescue 12 Thai boys from deep within a cave has said he is considering suing tech entrepreneur Elon Musk.

In now-deleted tweets, Mr Musk had called Vern Unsworth a “pedo guy” after the cave expert ridiculed a mini-submarine built by Mr Musk for the rescue effort as a “PR stunt”.

Mr Unsworth told reporters on Monday that he was considering legal action.

“It’s not finished,” he told Australian network Channel 7.

Thailand-based Mr Unsworth’s knowledge of the cave complex is said to have played a key role in the rescue effort. He travelled into the caves in the first days after the boys went missing and helped bring in top international cave rescue experts for the mission.

Mr Unsworth had earlier said the mini-sub built by Mr Musk’s team, and flown to Thailand before being rejected as inappropriate for the rescue mission by Thai officials, would have had “absolutely no chance of working”.

Elon Musk, who regularly takes on journalists and other critics on Twitter, on Sunday tweeted a response to Mr Unsworth, without using his name but calling him a “British expat guy who lives in Thailand”.