Nottinghamshire firefighters awarded medals for bravery

Four firefighters from Nottinghamshire have been recognised for saving the lives of two people in a house explosion in Basford in 2010.

The men from Stockhill fire station have been awarded the Queen's Gallantry Medal for their bravery in getting the severely injured man and woman out alive.

Andrew Alexander 38, Sanjeev Mohla 34, Daniel Wareham 28, and Matthew Willis 29, had left the station and were on their way to another emergency call when the explosion happened.

They stopped immediately and went into the building to rescue the residents, despite the dangers of further explosions.

Nottinghamshire's Chief Fire Officer Frank Swann said: "This was an extraordinary act of bravery, firefighters potentially put their lives on the line every day of the week, but this crew displayed incredible bravery and selflessness by responding to a situation that happened, literally in front of their eyes."

The Queen's Gallantry Medal is only one level below the George Medal, awarded to civilians for acts of exemplary bravery.