A coroner has called for new regulations following the death of an inventor after his boat blew up.

Timothy Brooking died from his injuries in hospital six weeks after his craft Pathfinder was wrecked by the explosion.

Leaking gas cylinders had turned the vessel into a "ticking timebomb".

An inquest jury heard that Mr Brooking, 66, was a cigar smoker but nobody would ever know whether it was that or simply turning on a light switch which sparked the explosion.

He was found pinned beneath the cabin roof which had fallen on him after being blown off the wheelhouse.

Brighton and Hove coroner Veronica Hamilton-Deeley said she was concerned there were no regulations covering the use of gas on boats.

She is to write to the Maritime Accident Investigation Board and the Royal Yachting Association to ask them to consider introducing them.

She also wants to see gas systems on boats installed and maintained only by qualified technicians in the same way as household gas.

And she has recommended a national and local reporting system should be set up to record gas leaks on houseboats and pleasure craft.

Mrs Hamilton-Deeley said: "Had such measures been in place it is probable that Mr Brooking's death would have been avoided.

"He was walking into a ticking timebomb as a result of the leaking gas sinking into and building up in Pathfinder's bilges."

The jury at Hove coroner's court heard there was originally no gas supply on the boat and Mr Brooking, who often slept on the boat, had installed it himself.

The inquest heard tiny holes were discovered on copper pipes and rubber tubes connecting gas cylinders to appliances on the boat.

Mr Brooking would not have known about them because they were concealed behind the wooden bulkhead or covers.

The jury of six men and three women decided Mr Brooking's death was an accident.