A FAITHFUL dog, which saved its owners from a blaze in their Rawtenstall home, back in 1967, was put up for a bravery award.

Locked in the kitchen at the house in Burnley Road, Skipper, a six-year-old mongrel, barked and barked to warn his owners George and Jennie Bowler, who were asleep upstairs.

Said Mr Bowler: "I grabbed my trousers and ran downstairs after the dog woke us up and it was like a furnace in the living room.

"He was lucky to survive but I do know that if he hadn't woken us up, we wouldn't be here now."

By the time he called the fire brigade, Jennie could not get down the stairs and she and their daughter, Angela, who was unconscious, were rescued through an upstairs window.

Station officer John Berry of Rawtenstall Fire brigade then carried Skipper from the house and the animal was revived in the garden, with oxygen and massage.

RSPCA chief inspector for Rossendale George Faulkner said he would be recommending the dog for a bronze plaque for bravery.