'My boat was swept away by the River Thames'

Andy Ellison's boat Salamar was lost on the River Thames on Thursday

A boating enthusiast has described the moment he saw the cruiser he had owned for 20 years in pieces after it was swept away in the fast-flowing River Thames.

“When I saw our lovely boat just smashing into the weir like that - oh my God, it’s heart stopping,” Andy Ellison said.

The cruiser boat - Salamar - was torn from its moorings outside Mr Ellison’s home in Wraysbury in Berkshire on Thursday after heavy rainfall raised river levels.

Videos were taken of the wreckage of the 23ft-long (7m) vessel being carried along and crashing into a lock.

Flood warnings and alerts remain in place for the Thames and the River Pang in Berkshire following heavy rain from Storm Bert and Storm Conall.

Mr Ellison said he had been returning from London when neighbours called him to break the news about his boat.

“But at the same time nobody’s hurt or injured," he said.

"I am still alive and I can carry on with loads of other stuff so that is just another part of my life just gone.

“There’s such a good community and they watched everything going down the river."

He was later sent videos of the boat floating downstream, eventually reaching Bell Weir Lock in Runnymede, Surrey.

Mr Ellison owned the boat for more than 20 years before it was washed away

He told BBC Radio Berkshire the river had been "running really dangerously" for some time.

“I am not sure why the river’s been so bad for the last two years and whether it’s going to get worse in the future,” he continued.

“We were completely flooded two years ago and we have had to have all our floors taken up."

It is unclear where the wreckage is now but Mr Ellison believes it could be further downstream at Teddington Lock.

The Environment Agency issued 45 notices for the River Thames on Thursday warning boat users not to navigate because of strong flows.

Alerts were in place for the Thames at Shiplake, Lower Shiplake and Wargrave and at Henley, Remenham and Medmenham.

Other alerts were issued for Pangbourne to Purley along the Thames, along with another for the River Pang from East Ilsley to Pangbourne and Sulham Brook.