THE body of a man has been found on board a drifting yacht.

Coastguards discovered the vessel, belonging to 51-year-old Martyn Hayes, at Millendreath, near Looe, South East Cornwall yesterday.

Mr Hayes has been missing since boarding his vessel at the weekend. His father Derek raised the alarm on Monday when his son failed to turn up for work in Ipplepen, near Newton Abbot, South Devon.

Coastguards in Brixham have been coordinating a search for Mr Hayes, who was an insulin-dependent diabetic.

Using RNLI lifeboats and a helicopter from RAF Chivenor, teams searched rivers and estuaries close to the River Tamar.

His car was seen parked at Plymouth's Tamar River Sailing Club where it was left on Friday.

At 1.30pm yesterday, a member of the public reported a boat had run aground on rocks just east of Looe.

The vessel matched the description of Mr Hayes' Sadler 26.

A coastguard spokesman said: "A paramedic was put on board to check the man's health but he was dead.

"Brixham coastguard was tasked with finding the yacht but now that is done, and the man is dead, the matter is passed over to Devon and Cornwall Police."

Police confirmed the body of a man in his fifties was on board the vessel.

A spokesman for the force said: "Police are investigating the death, which is not thought to be suspicious at this time.

"The initial search followed a report of a 51-year-old man from South Devon who had gone missing from his home but was known to have a yacht moored in Plymouth."