Debris found in the area of the Atlantic Ocean where UK yacht the Cheeki Rafiki went missing does not belong to the stricken vessel.

The crew of a catamaran reported seeing a plank and a piece of foam in the search area. But the US Coast Guard has now ruled out any connection with the 40ft yacht.

First Coast Guard District Chief of Response Captain Anthony Popiel said: "Our search assets have found a variety of debris and trash during their searches. The key part is correlating these objects to the search effort."

The search for the missing crew was resumed on Tuesday afternoon after a public outcry, but despite combing 12,000 square miles of ocean, rescue teams have had no sighting of the life raft.

Relatives of the men said the operation was boosted by additional air support.

Captain Andrew Bridge, 22, and fellow crew members James Male, 23, from Southampton, Steve Warren, 52, and Paul Goslin, 56, got into trouble as they were sailing to the UK from an Antigua regatta and started taking on water 620 miles east of Cape Cod last Thursday.