A BRAVE policeman who ran into a burning house to rescue a dog has been hailed as a hero.

Father-of-four PC John Smith broke down the back door of Andrew Neary's house in Victoria Street, Moses Gate, to rescue Max, a three-year-old Collie.

The dog was home alone as arsonists poured a quantity of petrol through the letterbox.

But PC Smith, aged 36, burst into the kitchen to rescue him before the blaze destroyed the house. It was only his fourth day as Moses Gate's area officer.

He had spotted black smoke pouring from a back window as he patrolled a nearby street.

PC Smith said: "I was just doing my job and I am sure any police officer would have done the same."

Detectives today launched a hunt to find the suspected arsonists and appealed for witnesses.

Unemployed Mr Neary, who has only rented the property from St Vincent's Housing Association for six months, lost the majority of his property in the blaze, which happened at 2.30pm on Sunday.

Everything apart from Max that is.

The 20-year-old said: "Max is alright now, just coughing a bit. I would like to say thank-you to PC Smith."

A police officer for eight years, PC Smith said: "I ran around to the back and saw flames pouring out of a window.

"I could not get a reply from the front door so I alerted neighbours before running around the back again.

"It was quite a severe fire. I broke down the back door and spotted Max. He was growling but I managed to grab him before the fire took hold.

"There were flames all around me and thick black smoke made it very hard to see anything."

He added: "In fact I could not see a thing unless I bent down. I went in because I thought someone was inside. Fortunately there was nobody there apart from Max. It could have been a lot worse."

Mr Neary is now living with family members in Walk

den.

Anyone with information should call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.