A VALLEYS man described how he raised the alarm and helped get a family out of their home after a blaze broke out in a bedroom yesterday.

Jonathan James, 22, of Cefn Golau, was working when he saw smoke rising out of a detached house on Arches Close, Dukestown, Tredegar, at around 12.15pm.

Mr James stopped what he was doing and banged at the door of the house to alert three people inside – two men and a woman – of the blaze in a first floor bedroom and the house's attic.

The gardener said he was working at a property opposite on Arches Close when he became aware of the drama unfolding: “I saw smoke – I thought it was from the chimney but it was coming from the window.

“They were still inside the house when it was burning.

"I ran across and banged the door.” He said he gave the woman, believed to be a mother of one of the two men, a phone to call 999.

“It got worse and worse. I could hear all the windows smashing out the back, and something went bang from inside the bedroom."

Once out the three and Mr James stood outside and watched until fire crews from Ebbw Vale and Tredegar arrived to tackle the fire, which left the first floor of the house blackened.

South Wales Fire and Rescue service said three people were taken to hospital as a precaution following the fire.