Storm Imogen: Fears grow for RSPCA inspector missing while rescuing sea birds

Mike Reid was called out to help save around 30 gannets stranded on rocks near Penzance

Mike Reid was called out to help save a group of seabirds stranded on rocks near Penzance (PA)

Fears are growing for an RSPCA inspector missing while rescuing sea birds at a Cornwall beach shortly before hurricane-force winds from Storm Imogen battered Britain.

Mike Reid was called out to help save around 30 gannets stranded on rocks near Penzance on the afternoon of 7 February, but has not been seen since.

Gales of almost 100mph lashed the South-east and much of southern England and Wales on 8 February, with coastal communities bearing the brunt. Conditions at sea reached “phenomenal” states – defined as waves of more than 14m (46ft), the Met Office said. One wave of 19.1m (63ft) was recorded near St Ives.

Two children, aged five and seven, suffered serious leg injuries when a stone wall collapsed on them in Bretforton, Worcestershire. In Bognor Regis, West Sussex, an elderly man suffered a broken leg and his dog was killed when a 5ft garden wall blew on top of them. More than 200 Environment Agency flood alerts and warnings were in place last night across the UK, with further extreme conditions expected to sweep South Wales and South-west and southern England.