Daughter's lament for RSPCA inspector who vanished trying to rescue sea birds

Updated

The daughter of an RSPCA inspector who went missing while trying to rescue sea birds from a cliff has said she accepts he "will not be coming home".

Mike Reid, 54 vanished after he went to the aid of around 30 gannets stranded on rocks near Penzance, Cornwall, shortly before Storm Imogen's hurricane force winds battered Britain.

His daughter Jenna has paid tribute to her father, describing him as her "hero" and the "best person I've ever known".

In a Facebook post, Ms Reid wrote: " Unfortunately and it pains and breaks my heart to say that my amazing dad will not be coming home.

"This world is a cruel place to take such a wonderful man from it, a true loss. He was one in a million."

She added: "This has been the worst and hardest time in mine and my family's life. We will be empty without him, he completed us."

A Devon and Cornwall Police spokesman said the search for Mr Reid had been halted overnight but it would resume in the morning.

Thousands of people were left without power after winds reaching speeds of almost 100mph hit the UK during the height of Storm Imogen.

Coastal communities in Wales and south west and southern England bore the brunt of the weather that tore in from the Atlantic, with 1,917 homes waking up to no electricity.

Several people were injured in the storm, including two children aged five and seven, who were taken to hospital on Monday morning after a stone wall fell on them in Bretforton, near Evesham, Worcestershire.

It came less than two weeks after the local authority inspected the wall and found no immediate danger to the public.

A man in his 70s broke his leg and his dog was killed after a 5ft garden wall blew on to them in Bognor Regis, West Sussex, shortly before 8am on Monday.

In Bristol, a man in his 40s was injured after trees fell onto a three-storey block of flats.

Some 44 Environment Agency flood warnings and 135 alerts remain in force across England and Wales.

Met Office spokesman Grahame Madge said Storm Imogen was moving away from the UK.

He said: "Things are quietening down. What we are expecting for the next couple of days is a system of colder air to be pulled into the UK."

It is still expected to be blustery over the next couple of days, but temperatures are set to improve over the weekend.

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