FIREfighters have been praised for their swift actions after they pulled three greyhounds from a burning house and tenderly revived them.

Members of Blue Watch, at Middlesbrough fire station, were alerted to the blaze by neighbours in Belle Vue Grove, in the town. They arrived to find the house empty and well alight, with smoke streaming down the road.

On hearing that the family's beloved greyhounds were trapped inside, Station Officer Ron Carr sent in two men to rescue them.

They battled through the smoke and choking fumes to find the first dog and carry him out.

Mr Carr said: "They found the first dog to the rear of the front door. It was flat out and had to be carried. We gave it oxygen, and very shortly afterwards the lads came out with the second animal, which was in just as bad a state.

"Its fur was singed and it couldn't walk, so we got it into the fresh air and gave it oxygen."

Mr Carr said the last dog to be rescued, Tiny, was in the worst condition. "When we got it out, it was actually dead, so firefighter Kevin Jones gave it heart massage," he said.

While the rescue was taking place, the dogs' owner, Linda Harrison, arrived and was so distraught that she had to be treated by paramedics. Thanks to the fire crew's efforts, the dogs survived, and Tiny is now recovering at the Bridge Veterinary Hospital, in Middlesbrough.

RSPCA Inspector Kevin Foy said: "It is thanks to the quick thinking and swift action of Blue Watch that these dogs are alive today."