A BRITISH diver who helped in the Thailand cave rescue is suing Elon Musk after the Tesla tycoon called him a “paedo guy”.

According to The Sun, Vernon Unsworth has launched legal action after Musk repeated the slur despite earlier being forced to apologise after he first made the allegation.

But his mother Vera Unsworth has revealed her son is now consulting lawyers.

“He’s consulted his lawyer this morning. That’s all he’s told me,” the 88-year-old said from her house in Braintree, Essex, reported the MailOnline.

“I don’t know who his lawyers are or where they’re based.

“My son is in London on business at the moment but he’s asked me not to comment any further.”

Mr Unsworth is a British expat and caver who lives near the Tham Luang tunnel network where the 12 boys and their football coach were trapped for more than two weeks.

He played a key role in the rescue and first clashed with the billionaire when he dismissed an offer by Musk to send a mini-submarine to help in the rescue efforts.

Mr Unsworth dismissed the offer as “just a PR stunt” and said the billionaire could “stick the submarine where it hurts”.

Musk — worth a reported $20bn (A$27.4bn) — then hit back in a bizarre series of tweets, some of which he later deleted, suggesting the expert had exaggerated his role in the rescue.

He also claimed it was suspicious the 63-year-old lived in Thailand before explicitly branding him a “paedo” in one post.

Musk added: “Never saw this British expat guy who lives in Thailand (sus) at any point when we were in the caves.”

Mr Unsworth had said he was considering taking legal action against Musk for his astonishing remarks.

Musk then tweeted an apology: “My words were spoken in anger after Mr Unsworth said several untruths & suggested I engage in a sexual act with the minisub, which had been built as an act of kindness & according to specifications from the dive team leader.

“Nonetheless, his actions against me do not justify my actions against him, and for that I apologise to Mr. Unsworth and to the companies I represent as leader. The fault is mine and mine alone.”

But Musk has taken to Twitter again, this time to question why Mr Unsworth hasn’t sued him in the wake of the remarks.

In a tense Twitter exchange with a journalist Musk added: “Did you investigate at all? I’m guessing answer is no. Why?”

Shares in his company dived by around $A3.5bn following his initial comments, which he now admits were made “in anger”.

Last month Mr Unsworth said: “I’ve been approached by British lawyers, American lawyers. I haven’t decided what to do next yet.”

“I can’t let it go. There’s too much out there already,” Unsworth told Reuters in an interview.

Asked why he thought Musk would make such a comment about him, he said: “I don’t know.”