A series of explosions rocked St Margaret's in the early hours of Thursday morning after a car blaze set a house alight and ignited about 20 gas cylinders stored nearby.

Twenty residents were evacuated from Charleville Mews, in Railshead Road, just after 3.45am and four fire crews fought for two-and-a-half hours to bring the blaze under control.

Flames from the burning Nissan Micra licked the side of an adjacent house, setting the roof ablaze.

Luckily the young family who live there were on holiday and the flames were put out before they spread further.

The gas cylinders, stored for use by 27 houseboat owners living in nearby Thistleworth Marina, exploded as flames reached the storage cupboard.

The blaze cut electricity to all the houseboats. Richmond Council said yesterday they were working to restore the power supply as soon as possible.

Resident Graeme Perkins, 52, was woken by the blasts. He said: "There was a massive explosion at about 4am. I thought a plane had gone down. There were flames up higher than the building. The whole sky was orange when the fire brigade arrived."

Neighbour Andrew Phillips said: The fire brigade had to smash the door down to get into the house. It's a really good thing the family who live in the house weren't there.

"They would have opened the door to a sheet of flames."

Retired boatbuilder Eddie Tombs said he heard the blasts from half-a-mile away in Haliburton Road, Twickenham.

Residents believe the arson was the work of vandals as another car and bin have been torched in the area in recent weeks.

They called for action to improve safety in the neighbourhood.

Mr Perkins said: "It's very dangerous down here at night. The lighting is bad, it's away from the road and the kids know that. They can do what they like and leg it.'' The Micra, owned by houseboat resident Steve Burchill, was completely gutted.

Acting Chief Inspector Mike Kirby, of Twickenham police, said: "We are keeping an open mind about the reason for the fire. We are investigating it and the local authority is making arrangements for the displaced residents."

A London Fire Brigade spokesman said: "The cylinder storage hut was completely gutted and a car was also destroyed by the blaze. The fire also spread to a local house and damaged part of the roof. It is now under investigation."