Debris has reportedly been found in the Atlantic Ocean in the area where yacht the Cheeki Rafiki went missing.

The captain of a charter yacht taking part in the search said details of what was spotted were passed on to the US Coast Guard.

The 40ft Cheeki Rafiki was sailing back to the UK from an Antigua regatta when it got into trouble and started taking on water 620 miles east of Cape Cod last Thursday.

The four men - experienced captain Andrew Bridge, 22, from Farnham in Surrey, and crew members James Male, 23, below, from Romsey, Steve Warren, 52, from Bridgwater, Somerset, and Paul Goslin, 56, from West Camel, Somerset - have not been seen or heard from since the early hours of Friday morning.

The US Coast Guard called off the search for the men 48 hours later, but resumed after a petition signed by politicians, celebrities and leading sailors attracted 200,000 signatures.

Patrick Michel, skipper of the Malisi, volunteering in the search for the missing yacht, said: ``We are currently just in the north part of the search area, our third night out here, and we did see during this night a few little (pieces of) debris which I have reported to the US Coast Guard with the times and positions, so there is a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel.''