Fire investigators have discovered the cause of a massive blaze which broke out at an island in Hampton yesterday.

The fire on Platt's Eyot destroyed several Grade II listed buildings as well as a historic Dunkirk boat.

According to the London Fire Brigade, the fire was accidental and caused by a stray ember from burning rubbish nearby which was carried over by high winds.

Dunkirk 'little ship' the Lady Gay was completely destroyed in the fire and had been undergoing renovations in the island's boathouse at the time.

Three single-storey industrial units and one 30-foot cabin cruiser were also destroyed and four 30 foot cabin cruisers were damaged.

The blaze started at 5.14pm last night and was finally brought under control three and a quarter hours later.

At the height of the incident, fifteen fire engines and around 100 firefighters were tackling the fire.

Witnesses at the time said they could hear pops and bangs as the fire raged on the island.

The Fire Brigade said today that a number of gas cylinders involved in the fire were cooled and removed by firefighters.

One man was treated at the scene for smoke inhalation by London Ambulance Service crews.

Pillars of black smoke could be seen across London and nearby residents were warned to keep their windows shut.

In total, the Fire Brigade received 73 calls from concerned residents over the evening.

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Massive blaze breaks out at island near Hampton

Station Commander Brett Loft, who was at the scene, said: "Firefighters worked extremely hard in difficult conditions and manged to prevent any further fire spread, however sadly there was significant damage to a number of units."

He added: "Crews used water from a nearby reservoir to make the initial attack and firefighters carried equipment across the footbridge as it was only accessible on foot.

"Our priority was to protect the neighbouring properties and boats that were moored which we did with covering jets.

"Along with our partners at the RNLI, our inflatable boats from the fire rescue units were able to move some of the other vessels out of harm's way."

Teddington RNLI confirmed on Twitter that they were called to the scene.

The lifeboat station wrote: "Volunteer crew paged at 1817 today to assist @LondonFire with safe evacuation if needed of houseboat and boat owners at Platt's Eyot following large fire on the island.

"Great inter-agency co-ordination."

Nub News will continue to bring you updates on this story as we get them