Grainger and her crew showed bitter disappointment at silver

Debbie Flood, Sarah Winckless, Frances Houghton and Kath Grainger took the lead with 500m to go but could not counter a late Russian push.

There was disappointment for the men's eight, beaten into fifth by Germany.

But GB's lightweight women's quad took bronze behind China and Denmark, who both beat the previous world record.

The mood of the home team at Dorney Lake was a contrast to that on Saturday.

After claiming gold in the coxless four and bronze in men's double sculls then, they met their target of three medals in Olympic-class events.

But Grainger, twice an Olympic medalist, made no secret of her disappointment at missing out on the title.

"We said from the start we were coming to be world champions," she told BBC Sport.

"We were defending our title on our home ground - there was a lot of people we wanted to make proud.

"We'll come to terms with it but the first reaction is devastation that we didn't manage to hold our title."

The GB lightweight quartet, who were put together late for the event, were pleased with bronze.

"We knew we'd have to work very hard, so we're very happy. We've only been together for three-and-a-half weeks," said Hester Goodsell, who sculled in the three seat.

Chinese lightweights also stood out in the women's double, where Britain's Jane Hall and Helen Casey fell back to fifth.