This dramatic footage shows a huge fire that sunk a fishing boat off the British coast - leaving two men clinging on to survival in a life raft.

Theresa Appleton, 57, was on a wildlife spotting tour with her husband, Mike, 59, when they spotted smoke on the horizon.

Duncan Jones, skipper of the boat, headed straight for the source of the acrid black smoke and discovered two men in a life-raft in the waters off Penzance, Cornwall.

The men were fishermen and their boat had been set on fire, and as they were towed away a loud explosion could be heard as an on-board canister ignited on Tuesday, July 16.

Theresa, a photographer, said: "We left from Penzance and did a trip right down to the Minack Theatre and we headed south west.