Two workmen who rescued a man from his blazing home in Port Seton, East Lothian, after they spotted flames and smoke coming from his kitchen are to be recognised for their bravery by their employer.

Mr John McCaig, 62, of North Seton Park in Port Seton, was asleep at the time when Kevin McDonald (28) and John Davie (25) kicked his door down and led him to safety. They were working for housing repair and maintenance company The Apollo Group on a roughcasting and roofing project nearby, on behalf of East Lothian Council, when they saw the blaze.

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Kevin McDonald said: "We were just finishing work for the day when we saw the smoke and flames through the kitchen window. We didn’t know if anyone was in the house but we couldn’t take any chances so we decided to break in, just in case."

John Davie commented: "We kicked the front door down and ran from room to room to see if there was anyone there. At this point the flames were coming out the kitchen door, but we saw Mr McCaig asleep and knew that if he didn’t get out soon it could turn into a tragedy."

Mr McCaig said the first thing he knew was being shaken awake and seeing smoke billowing across the room.

"Kevin and John grabbed me and pulled me out of the house before the fire could spread. I can't thank them enough. They saved my life," he said.

Brian Morrow, Divisional Director at Apollo, said: "Kevin and John acted selflessly and bravely, without hesitation, to rescue Mr McCaig. Apollo will be recognising them for their bravery and for acting so quickly and potentially saving Mr McCaig’s life. This was a tremendous act of courage by them both."

(GK/NS