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The hull of the missing UK yacht Cheeki Rafiki has been found in the North Atlantic by a US Navy warship, the BBC reported, citing the US Coast Guard.

A surface swimmer identified the name on the back of the boat and knocked on the hull but there was no response.

The Coast Guard said the yacht's life raft had not been deployed and was still in its storage space.

The four-strong crew were returning to the UK from Antigua when it hit problems on 15 May.

They are Paul Goslin, 56, from West Camel, Somerset; Steve Warren, 52, from Bridgwater, Somerset; skipper Andrew Bridge, 22, from Farnham, Surrey; and 22-year-old James Male, from Romsey, Hampshire.

Last Thursday, the sailors contacted the yacht's owner to say they were taking on water and diverting to the Azores.

Contact was lost the following day and it is thought the yacht may have capsized. Locator beacons activated by the crew indicated they were in a position 1,000 miles east of Massachusetts on the morning of Friday 16 May.

The US Coast Guard said a warship helicopter crew located the hull 1,000 miles from Massachusetts.

The warship was diverted and a boat crew sent to examine the boat.

They found the cabin of the yacht was flooded and the windows shattered. The yacht's keel was also broken, causing a breach in the hull, a spokesman added.