FOUR teenagers have been hailed as heroes after they pulled a man from his blazing flat.

Steve Chappell, 18, and Matravers School pupils Luke Ward, Matty Williams and Ben Brown, all 15, saved 52-year-old Allen Bailey's life in the courageous rescue.

The group had been sitting outside the Olympia takeaway in the Market Place, Westbury, just before 6pm on Thursday, when they noticed smoke coming from the flat above. Not knowing if anyone was inside, the quick-thinking teenagers tried to kick the flat's front door down.

When this failed, Mr Chappell, a former Matravers pupil, smashed the glass and opened the door from the inside. He and his three friends heard Mr Bailey shouting, but could not reach him.

Mr Chappell said: "We climbed the stairs but were forced back by the thick smoke. We then tried again with our tops over our mouths."

Undeterred he and Luke used a wheelie bin to climb onto a 3ft ledge outside the first-floor window. Mr Bailey had got his head and arms outside the window and the pair dragged him to safety before firefighters from Trowbridge, Westbury and Warminster arrived.

Mr Chappell said: "He kept slipping in and out of consciousness so I squeezed his hands to keep him awake until they got us down."

Mr Bailey spent the night at Bath's RUH, where he was treated for smoke inhalation from the fire, the cause of which is not yet known. Mr Chappell, Luke and Matty had similar treatment at Warminster Hospital.

Matty said: "The only thing we could think about was getting him out. The man had been in there for 10 minutes. What I couldn't understand was that there were so many adults just standing there watching while we were getting him out."

Since their heroic efforts came to light, the teenagers have been honoured throughout Westbury and Mr Chappell said he got free beer in all the pubs he visited at the weekend.

Leading firefighter Phil Chamberlain was full of praise for the teenagers' efforts. He said: "They certainly contributed to saving the man's life. We had them down at the fire station on Monday night to thank them."

The fire has meant Mr Bailey will not be able to return to his flat for six months and he is now looking to find alternative accommodation.

He said: "I can't praise these young men enough, they thought so quickly. They may be boys, but inside they've got the hearts of men. If it was not for their reactions I would not be here now. I hope this stays with them and that they can do this again for somebody.

"I used to shout at them for hanging around outside, but now I am going to get to know them. As far as I'm concerned they are very good friends of mine now."