A GRANDAD told how he escaped an inferno when his boat burst into flames in a Portland street.

Paul Reed said flames from the blaze on the Briny May boat were just inches away from his face.

Mr Reed was working on his boat yesterday when a faulty battery charger sparked the fire.

Petrol stored on board the 17ft vessel, which is kept on a trailer in Augusta Road at the Grove, fuelled the flames until they were around 8ft high.

Mr Reed, 65, said: “I opened the cabin door and I could see flames that were inches away from my face.

“The next thing I heard was a big whoosh and I got out of the boat as quickly as I could, which isn’t easy for a man my size.

“I came in and phoned 999. There were flames bursting out of the boat everywhere.”

Fire crews from Portland arrived five minutes later and took around 30 minutes to put out the fire, which completely destroyed Briny May.

Police, who were also called to the scene, said the cause of the fire was accidental.

Retired Mr Reed goes fishing off Portland with his boat.

“It’s a bit of a hobby for me – I named the boat after my grandchildren who live in Torquay.

“I think they’ll be upset to hear about the boat – I’m upset about it.

“I’m still in shock,” he said.

Mr Reed added that he didn’t know if his boat was insured.

Resident Steven Hughes, 22, was at home a few yards away from the fire when it started.

He said: “One moment our neighbour was tinkering about with the boat and the next thing we saw him get off quickly and the boat just went up.

“We have an 18-month-old baby and we put her at the back of the house because we were so worried about her.

“The flames were touching our front window.

“We weren’t worried about ourselves, we were more worried about the baby.”

Mr Hughes, who lives in Augusta Road with his wife Rebecca, said the windows of the couple’s home were damaged in the fire.

He added: “The firefighters were pelting water against our windows. The fire kept re-lighting and the flames were about 8ft high at one stage.

“We thought they were going to come through the window.

“We’re going to have to get the windows fixed now because of the damage.”

Dorset Police have asked Mr Reed to remove the burnt out boat from the road once the assessors have viewed it.