A BRAVE granddad saved the lives of three members of his family when their house caught fire. Alex Barrack rescued his eight-year-old grandson, his stepdaughter and her boyfriend from the smoke-filled house in Pheasant Road, Luton.

He battered the front door down and raced upstairs to wake them up and lead them to safety. Mr Barrack was returning home from a night out with friends at about 1am today when he saw smoke billowing out of the windows.

"I was walking up the street and I just saw all this smoke coming out of the back of house - all the windows were open and I thought it looked really bad," he said. "I started banging on the doors because my keys were."

After alerting the family he went into the garden to grab the hose and started spraying it into the living room where the fire raged while a neighbour called the fire brigade.

Mr Barrack, 47, said: "The fire started in one of the chairs in the living room and I reckon it must have been smouldering for quite a while. "But I didn't think about the dangers, my only concern was for Anthony my grandson, Debbie my stepdaughter and her boyfriend. I live for my family."

Medway firefighter Tommy Sladden said the fire could have killed the occupants had it not been for Mr Barrack's bravery. He said: "The smoke was logging up on the ground floor and beginning to rise up to where the family was sleeping."