HEAVY seas and strong winds lashed the south coast of Cornwall yesterday causing minor damage and pulling yachts from their moorings.

The biggest storm of the year so far hit Falmouth, Helston and the surrounding area in the early hours of Wednesday morning with driving rain and strong winds gusting between 60 and 70 mph.

The yacht Dancer of Dart broke free of her mooring in the Penryn River and was pushed right up against the wall of the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club by the strong winds. The club's vice commodore Robin Taylor leapt on board from a motor launch to tie a rope on to secure the vessel.

He managed, what was described by one observer as "quite a feat", to lash a rope between the yacht and the launch to tow her to safety.

Coastguard James Instance said as well as the Dancer of Dart another boat moored at Falmouth had broken free and had to be towed to safety. A yacht in Mylor marina had also broken free of its moorings and run aground.

Mr Instance said: "We are putting out a severe gale force winds warning and encouraging people not to go out. We are also warning people against weather watching or wave watching because this is equally as dangerous, especially with the high tide and swell expected for this afternoon."

Coastguards said while surf on the north coast was relatively flat on the south coast the waves were "monstrous".

Devon and Cornwall Police said reports were coming in from all over the area of trees, branches and electric cables coming down but there were no major problems and no injuries. Up to 893 homes around Mylor Bridge were without power for an hour after the bad weather brought down two 11,000 volt conductor cables.

Western Power said that all but 22 homes were back on line within an hour with the rest of the homes expected to be back on by the afternoon.