The mystery of a missing boat owner continued today after an abandoned house boat at Richmond Bridge was gutted by fire.

Canal boat Centaur went up in flames in the early hours of Sunday - but neighbours said they had no way of contacting its former owner to give her the news.

Mark Edwards, owner of nearby Richmond Bridge Boat Houses, a boat-building company, said the female owner abandoned the boat some time ago.

He said: “We have been looking for the owner for six months and she has not been found “She is a lady who turns up every six months or so and then disappears. The boat is just going to stay there until she turns up.”

Mr Edwards said there was the possibility of going to court to officially take possession of the boat but at the moment he was hoping the owner would return.

Richmond firefighters were called to the blaze at about 3.30am after a Richmond Riverside security guard spotted the flames.

Crews from Twickenham, Kingston and Heston all helped to put out the blaze but said by the time they arrived the boat was already "pretty well alight".

A spokesman at Richmond fire station said: "The interior is gone and it is just the shell left there now."

Mr Edwards said it was just lucky no one was seriously hurt.

He said: "There was a guy who had stayed on the boat overnight and he woke up early in the morning and lit the stove because he was cold... and something happened.

"He walked out of the boat and the thing just went up in flames. It was lucky he was awake and just got out."

He added when the owner abandoned her boat last year she told the boat houses they could use it in her absence. They had occasionally used it as an office.

Centaur was gutted in the blaze and had to be secured to keep it above water.

The boat houses got permission from the fire brigade to clean the boat while they wait for the owner to return.

Richmond police confirmed a 40-year-old man who was on board when the blaze broke out was taken to hospital and treated for burns on his arm and hand. No one else was hurt.

Police ruled out arson and said the fire was believed to be the result of an accident caused by a faulty gas cooker. A fire investigation unit is looking into the incident.