Safety equipment at a Mullion beauty spot has been changed in the wake of a double drowning at the harbour, during which the rope of a life belt snapped while in use, an inquest heard today.

Holidaymakers Stephen Tickell, from Sutton Coldfield and Patricia Evans from Slough were visiting Mullion Cove together during a day of "horrendous" storms, on March 4 this year.

They both drowned after being swept over the harbour wall by a massive wave, despite frantic rescue efforts from a BBC camera crew who were filming a documentary at the time.

A life ring that had been thrown to 42-year-old Mr Tickell - and which he had managed to climb into - failed after the rope snapped while he was being pulled in.

Ms Evans, 53, had been unable to reach the buoys that had been thrown to her and drowned before anyone could reach her.

The inquest, held in Truro, heard from Julian Sturdy, a television producer with the BBC, who described how his team had arrived at Mullion Cove shortly before 5pm, where they were due to film the stormy weather as part of a documentary on climate change.

He had started walking to the top of the cliff when he was met by one of his colleagues, technical operator Mark Killingback, who said he had just seen two people washed into the sea.

Leaving Mr Killingback to dial 999, Mr Sturdy and a third member of the team, Dr David Viner, a climate specialist with Natural England, raced to the harbour wall before Mr Sturdy went towards Mr Tickell and Dr Viner headed towards Ms Evans.

Mr Sturdy ran in the direction of a man calling - who he later discovered to be Mr Tickell - and saw him floating in the water outside the harbour mouth and about 15 or 20 feet away from the wall.

Mr Sturdy, who became visibly moved as he read his witness statement, said: "The sea was atrocious. I had to hold onto the railings by linking my arms and legs around them to avoid being swept off."

He explained how he yelled to Mr Tickell and threw a life belt towards him, which landed five feet away. Mr Tickell made "two or three strong strokes" towards the belt and pulled it over him, looking "determined."

Mr Sturdy decided he could not pull Mr Tickell back towards the harbour as it would have been too dangerous and instead began pulling him towards the shore. As he did so, Mr Tickell was continually being lifted and dropped by the swell. It was at this point that the rope went taut and snapped, as a large wave dropped Mr Tickell.

As Mr Sturdy went to fetch another life belt he was joined by Mr Killingback, who had contacted the emergency services. The pair, slipping on the path that was now awash with water, went back onto the pier but Mr Tickell had drifted farther away.

They were then shouted to by Dr Viner, who warned them that the situation was becoming dangerous. Soon after, a coastguard team from Mullion that was led by station officer Barry Munday arrived, followed by a 771 squadron search and rescue helicopter from RNAS Culdrose that winched the bodies of Mr Tickell and Ms Evans from the water.

Mr Sturdy added: "I feel very saddened and frustrated that the rope of the life belt was not sufficient."

Mr Killingback, Mr Sturdy and Dr Viner have since been recommended for awards, in recognition of their bravery.

The inquest then heard from Justin Whitehouse, an area manager with the National Trust, who said that the harbour had been equipped with three life belts, five life throws - coils of rope without the ring - as well as four warning signs, which stated: "Waves sweep over the breakwater in heavy seas."

Prior to the incident, the equipment had last been given a visual check by volunteers the month before, on February 7.

Mr Whitehouse confirmed that since the incident, the ropes had all been changed to a different design. In addition, new guidelines had since been published by the RNLI setting out regulations on safety equipment.

"We have now put in place that procedure, following these guidelines, which was specific on the type of rope," said Mr Whitehouse. Rope should be between 9.5mm and 13.5mm in thickness, 25m long, made of polypropylene and able to float.

"The only difference is that we have changed the design of the life throws and changed the ropes on the life belts as an interim to this being published. We have got rope on order that fits with these guidelines," added Mr Whitehouse.

The guidelines also suggested that equipment should be replaced every five years and Mr Whitehouse agreed that it had been "certainly longer" than five years that the equipment at the harbour had been replaced at the time of the incident.

Coroner Barrie van den Berg gave verdicts of accidental death by drowning for both Mr Tickell and Ms Evans, adding that it had been a tragedy.

Following the inquest, Mr Tickell's brother, Kenneth, thanked everybody who risked their own lives in the rescue attempt and said he was relieved that further lives were not lost.

He said his brother, who had two children with his wife Irene, used to work in the Navy as a survey recorder.

"In that sense I was slightly surprised. He was somebody who was obviously used to the sea. Having said that, he was a pretty carefree individual. There is a great magnetic attraction with the sea, isn't there?" he said.

Kenneth Tickell added: "The subject of the rope snapping is the one thing. Everybody did their best and I'm so grateful for that. The fact the rope snapped is the most tragic part of it. Putting in place the new guidelines on this is most welcome."

He confirmed he would be taking no further action.