A helicopter crew from Culdrose were unable to save five fishermen aboard a French trawler which sank in heavy seas off Lizard Point last Thursday.

The crew recovered two bodies from the water shortly after the Brittany-based Bugaled Breizh sank some 20 miles south of The Lizard.

The bodies of three other men have not yet been found, but may be trapped inside the boat, which the French authorities are claiming sank after being rammed by another vessel.

Alerted shortly before 1pm, the helicopter arrived on scene to find an empty life raft and the bodies of two men floating face down in the water.

Pilot Cpt Peter McLelland said: "It was only 20 minutes since the boat sank and they could have survived quite easily in the water if they had had their lifejackets on. It is very frustrating to think we could have saved them."

The Lizard lifeboat was among a number of vessels which scoured the area until darkness in an attempt to locate the missing fishermen.

Lifeboat coxswain Phil Burgess said conditions were unpleasant, with winds gusting to 45 knots and rough seas, but nothing out of the ordinary for the French trawlermen.

"It was poor, but it could have been worse," he said. "They're used to working that kind of weather, so I'm not sure what went wrong."

The lifeboat, which took around an hour to reach the scene, returned to station when the search was called off at 5.15pm.

"We picked up a lifejacket and four or five boxes belonging to the boat, but we didn't find anything else," said Mr Burgess. "You could smell the diesel where she'd gone down so we knew we were searching in the right place."

A massive rescue operation launched by Falmouth Coastguard immediately after the boat sank on Thursday involved two lifeboats, two helicopters and a selection of fishing boats and merchant ships.

The French authorities have since sent down a remotely operated submarine to video the wreck and claim that video reveals the trawler was rammed by another vessel.

Prosecutor Roland Eisch said this week the damage to the bow of the boat indicated it had suffered a "very violent" collision.

The French have vowed to find the vessel responsible and were due to launch a judicial inquiry into the incident today.

l The Lizard lifeboat was within seconds of launching earlier the same day when a Cadgwith fisherman working off The Lizard had a close shave.

Single-handed skipper Dominic Goldsack raised the alarm after his net-laden boat was swamped by a large wave. The mayday was relayed to Falmouth coastguard by colleagues fishing nearby, but fortunately Mr Goldsack was able to bail out enough of the water to prevent the boat capsizing.

Lifeboat coxswain Phil Burgess said he and several crew members were at the station when the call went out.

"We heard him on the radio and we could actually see him through the binoculars," he said. "We were already here and could have gone very quickly, but fortunately everything was OK and we didn't need to launch."