DEBRIS has been found in the Atlantic during the search for four missing British sailors.

The US Coastguard is searching for the men, including Steve Warren, who was born and raised in Bridgwater, after they sent out an SOS message when their yacht started taking on water a week ago.

It is believed they abandoned the Cheeki Rafiki for the life raft but the initial sea and air search failed to find them.

The American authorities called off the search at the weekend, but following pressure from the families and the British Government, they resumed their search on Tuesday.

The crew of Mr Warren, Paul Goslin, from West Camel, Somerset, James Male, of Southampton, and Andrew Bridge, from Surrey, were heading for the UK after competing in a regatta in Antigua.

They radioed in saying they had got into difficulties and planned to divert to The Azores.

But nothing more has been heard from them since they were about 1,000 miles east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

The captain of a catamaran taking part in the search told the BBC details had been passed to the US Coast Guard, but said he did not know if the debris was part of the missing boat.