A former firefighter is to be given a bravery award from the Royal Humane Society for saving the life of a gunshot victim.

Roger Bartlett, from East Hagbourne, near Didcot, risked his own life to save a man who was shot down by an unknown attacker in Shepton Mallet, near Bristol.

Mr Bartlett, who works in Abingdon for the Vale Housing Association, was with family in a pub in Shepton Mallet when gunshots where heard in a nearby flat. He rushed to the scene to see if he could help.

While his stepson called for an ambulance, Mr Bartlett found a man bleeding heavily from a facial wound. When the victim began to choke, Mr Bartlett pressed the man's tongue down to open his airway.

Mr Bartlett, who, as a former firefighter is accustomed to emergency situations, was able to keep the man alive until paramedics arrived to airlift him to hospital.

He said: "I am thrilled to receive a reward though I was only doing what many other people would have done in the same circumstances."

Mr Bartlett will receive his medal for bravery on Friday at Somerset's police headquarters.

Chief Supt Ted Allen, of Yeovil Police, said that had Mr Bartlett not intervened and helped the man, he may well have died.