A daughter has told how her father fled a marina blaze with just the clothes he was wearing.

Now Hayley Jane has launched a fundraising bid after Andy McGill escaped the fire which ripped through Ramsgate marina.

The grandfather lost everything in the devastating fire in the early hours of Friday morning, as he lived on the yacht.

Up to 20 firefighters fought the seafront fire, which saw one boat severely damaged while the other, Mr McGill's, sank.

Personal memorabilia from the 63-year-old's martial arts career around the world as well as his photos and laptop were lost.

He also suffered minor burns and a leg injury.

His daughter Hayley Jane has launched a fundraising bid to get her dad back on track - with more than £1,000 raised in just two days, smashing the initial target of £500.

"He was helped to safety by some hero off-duty paramedic, but due to delays in getting the fire put out it unfortunately sunk, taking with it all his personal effects," she said.

"This included a substantial amount of personal memorabilia from his martial arts career around the world as well as practical things such as identification, passport, bank cards, phone, photos and laptop.

"Literally everything has gone and he will have to start from scratch.

"Those of you who know Andy know that he has the personal resilience to do this, but the costs attached are incredible.

"Of course what you don't foresee is as much as this has been catastrophic for my dad, the outpouring support has been wonderful.

"If anyone would like to chip in and get a little pot together so that my dad can make a start of rebuilding his life, this would be really lovely."

Mr McGill, 63, described the moment he knew something awful had happened.

"At 1.30 in the morning, there was a big bang that woke me up.

"I go to the cabin door, open the door and there was just black smoke and grey smoke pouring through. I jumped onto the bed and pulled myself up through the hatch.

"The whole back of the boat was engulfed in flames and the flames were about five foot, ten foot high.

"I injured my hip and I've got a bit of burn on the side of my face and my elbow.

"All my worldly possessions, all my photographs, my history, my book collection of rare martial arts books, memorabilia - everything went up in flames."

Kevin Gibbs, who lives near to where the fire happened, described the dramatic scene.

"The fire started around about 1.30am," he said.

"I noticed the back of the vessel lights kept flicking on and off and then all of a sudden the back of the vessel went up in flames.

"The man that owned the vessel escaped through a hatch at the front of the boat with the help of two people.

"The fire brigade were on scene around about 1.40am."

To donate, go to the GoFundMe page.