A LYDBROOK man is lucky to be alive after he was saved from a fire thanks to the chance intervention of his local postman.

Richard Boyle, was working from his Hawsley home, completely unaware that his caravan was on fire until he heard banging and shouting at the door from postman Pete Sherwood.

Mr Sherwood, 54, told The Forester: “I pointed to smoke coming out of the caravan and we managed between us to phone the fire brigade and get Richard’s car out of the way.

“But it didn’t stop an oil container from exploding and the caravan was burnt to the ground.”

Mr Boyle said: “The oil just cascaded out and the fire chased it down the road.

“The fire crews extinguished the blaze relatively quickly but they had to start at the bottom of the road and fight their way back up towards the house.

“The fire just caught a bit of the guttering on the house and the firemen had to pull some insulation out.”

The next day a neighbour came up to Pete while he was on his rounds and shook his hand to thank him for his timely intervention and said that he had averted a more serious incident and potentially saved lives.

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