A TAXI driver and two police officers who saved the lives of three people, including an 18-month-old child, from a smoke-filled house in Newport on Monday may be awarded for their bravery.

Dean Holder, aged 33, of Monnow Way, Bettws, kicked down the front door of the house in Glebe Street, Maindee, and helped talk a 24-year-old woman and her child to safety from the first floor.

A 15-year-old boy managed to escape by climbing out of a bedroom window on to the roof of a lean-to in the garden.

The alarm was raised by two patrolling officers, PCs Becky Taylor and Lesley Green, who saw smoke billowing from the house at around 6.50am.

They flagged down Mr Holder, who was picking up a fare in the street, to help them. Newport councillor Harry Williams, from the Victoria ward, said: "I think it's wonderful that there are people out there who are prepared to sacrifice their lives to save others."

Sergeant Chris Garrett, of Maindee police station, said: "The three will probably be commended for an award for their bravery."

Mr Holder said: "When I kicked the door open the smoke came pouring out and we could hear people crying and screaming.

"We were talking to them all the time and the officers managed to crawl inside and met the woman with the baby halfway down the stairs.

"I was told later that if we had arrived a couple of minutes later then they would probably have died."

Fire investigators later discovered that the cause of the smoke was an electrical fault in a fridge-freezer.

Those rescued, who have not been named, were treated at Newport's Royal Gwent Hospital for the effects of smoke inhalation but their conditions were not serious. Inspector David Johnston, of Gwent Police, praised the rescuers for their "quick-wittedness and bravery".

He said: "There wasn't a fire but I understand it was ten minutes away from going off with a bang."

*PICTURED: Taxi driver Dean Holder with PCs Becky Taylor and Lesley Green.