French commandos boarded a yacht off Cherbourg and cut the halliards of its sails before arresting the crew and towing the boat into port.

The three – one Frenchman, one Briton and one Swede, were protesting the import of US plutonium carried in British-registered ships which is to be recycled into nuclear fuel before being shipped back to America.

Greenpeace organised the protest against a background of increased fears of a terrorist attack on the ships which are carrying 275 pounds of plutonium – enough to make 40 nuclear weapons.