A father and son are being hailed as heroes after saving a family from their burning home.

Retired firefighter Terence Walsh, of Brentford Close, Cholsey, and his son Terry were sitting in the garden when an explosion ripped through an upstairs bedroom two doors away at around midnight on Saturday night.

Terry, 46, who lives in France and is visiting his parents, rushed around to the house in Sandy Lane, to find three adults downstairs - completely unaware of the blaze above them.

Terry said: "My wife Victoria was drawing my attention to smoke coming out of the window when this almighty explosion blew it straight out.

"I ran into the house and went straight upstairs to shut the bedroom door. I went back to grab some fire extinguishers while my father dialled 999.

"When we got back, the whole upstairs was full of smoke. The room was just a total blaze. We had to lay down on our tummies to escape from the smoke, but we managed to put the fire out before the brigade arrived. "When something like this happens you never stop to think about it, but I would like to think that in different circumstances someone would help me."

The rescue was a real family affair as Victoria rushed round to helped to calm the family down and made sure all the electrical devices were unplugged.

Terry's dad, 68, spent 40 years as a senior fire officer in Berkshire. He said: "This was a really severe situation but Terry was extremely brave. I couldn't even breath properly up there."

Assistant Divisional Officer Tony Prosser, of Kidlington fire station, paid tribute to the two men.

He said: "Mr Walsh's previous experience was important and there is no doubt that the two of them prevented the situation getting much worse," he said.

"They helped confine the fire to one room and it might have been a different story if they hadn't got in there."

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