The ‘Smoke Without Fire’ Welsh singer was seen calling for her cat outside the 10-storey block near High Street Kensington.

She found the pet sheltering under a van, said www.standard.co.uk.

The site reported that more than 60 firefighters tackled the fire in St Mary Abbot’s Terrace for more than six hours at the rented £12m 6,000 sq ft loft apartment, with its own pool and cinema.

About 20 other residents spent the night at a centre nearby. Duffy, a Grammy-winning 28-year-old whose full name is Aimée Ann Duffy, left before 10 pm.

Nic Myatt, of London Fire and Rescue, said an investigation was continuing into the cause of the fire.

Rassa Borghei, 58. who lives on the fifth floor, told the Evening Standard: “I went to the kitchen window and I saw a lot of smoke. I told my sister and my son, let’s leave.

“I saw Duffy running outside. She was running about all over the place. When the police arrived they calmed her.”

It is believed Duffy was due to leave the penthouse, managed by estate agents Knight Frank and Sotheby’s, in a matter of days.

It was announced in February last year that was taking a break from recording.

Duffy was in a relationship with Welsh rugby player Mike Phillips until May last year and has been in a contract dispute with her former manager Angela Becker.