More than 20 speedboats were damaged as a fire ripped through a pier on the Thai tourist island of Phuket.

The flames were believed to have broken out on a leisure vessel before strong winds fanned them toward neighbouring vehicles at the Chalong Pier in the early hours of January 7.

Footage shows the inferno tearing through the row of moored speedboats amid windy conditions at 4 am local time.

Terrified residents said they heard an explosion before the glowing flames erupted and spread throughout the pier.

Police cut off access routes to the area as firefighters arrived to contain the blaze and separate the vessels to limit its spread.

Phuket Governor Nirat Pongsitthaworn said the speedboats had been fully refuelled for trips that morning.

He added that he has ordered marine officials to investigate the incident and prevent fuel leakage.

As the tide rose, officers managed to pull the boats closer to shore to prevent debris from sinking into the sea. They said no casualties or injuries were reported, but more than 20 boats were damaged.

A boat owner said three of his boats, worth around 5 million baht (118,548 GBP) each, were damaged.

He said: 'I usually run trips to Racha Island and Koh Hey, and even though I was fully booked that day, I couldn't take my customers out and had to cancel all the tours. There are around 100 tourists per trip, and the damage was extensive.'