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£100,000 Grand Designs Barge washes up on Southend beach

It was supposed to be their dream home, but three years after Chris Miller and his wife called in a TV show to rejuvenate their houseboat it has been found apparently washed up on a beach.

The unfinished 100-foot long boat, known as The Medway Eco-barge, had been moored in the Thames estuary off Southend since it featured in a Grand Designs' programme in March 2007.

It is thought that the boat broke free from its mooring overnight.

Steve Morgan, 29, from the nearby Barge Cafe, said: 'I got here at about half seven this morning and to be honest I did not know what it was at first.

'Then I saw the roof and realised it was the boat from Grand Designs - it looked very strange just sat there opposite our cafe.

'We have had loads of customers down here today, all talking about it and taking pictures. It's caused quite a stir.

'The boat had been up the coast for a couple of years now - it's a bit tatty to be honest with you.

'I think the designer had problems getting anyone to moor it at their harbour, so it just ended up out at sea really.'

When social workers Mr Miller and his wife Sze Liu Lai bought the barge, they had planned to leave their cramped London flat for a nomadic life afloat with their two young children. 

The idea had been to use recycled materials to convert the former Thames lighter into a comfortable self-sustaining home complete with its own windmill.

Millions of viewers watched as the Channel 4 team helped give the barge a makeover. But it was far from plain sailing, with presenter Kevin McCloud even calling it 'more of a floating Scrapheap Challenge' than a comfortable houseboat. 

Then the £80,000 project ran into cash problems and they were eventually forced to moor the houseboat in the estuary and abandon plans to live on it. Over the last three years it has become almost derelict and vandalised.

Mr Miller told the Telegraph today that he had abandoned the rejuvenation project some time ago but added that he had considered revisiting it this spring. However, vandals had caused so much damage to the vessel in the meantime that it was no longer a viable option.

He said: 'They caused around £70,000 worth of damage and unfortunately as a result of that damage it seems the boat has come free from its mooring.'

Bill Allen, owner of the mooring at Hadleigh Ray near Southend, where The Medway Eco-barge was homed, told the newspaper that the boat had fallen victim to squatters in recent months and that youngsters had used it to throw parties. 

A tugboat was later arranged for the boat to be returned to its moorings from just down the coast at nearby Leigh-on-Sea, Essex.