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A dog named Dukey is being hailed a hero after saving his owner from a devastating flat fire.

Pam Fardoe says that ‘if it wasn’t for him she wouldn’t be here to tell the tale now’ after the Staffordshire bull terrier woke her up in the middle of a blaze that ‘completely gutted’ a flat in Wallasey this morning.

The 52-year-old was tearful as she re-told the tale about how her three-year-old pup, who was sick after his heroic efforts, ‘saved her life’ as smoke began to fill her upstairs flat on King Street at about 7am.

She said: “I got up at about 6.40am and let Dukey out.

“When he came back in, I got back into bed, he jumped up on the bed too and I fell asleep.

“Next thing I knew he was pushing me, shaking and scratching me with his paws to get my attention.

“I said ‘what’s the matter son?’

“He looked at me and looked outside, and I asked him what the matter was again. I knew something was wrong - then I looked out the window and could see flames.

“I don’t think I would have woken up if it wasn’t for him.”

Pam says she then went into the hall and opened her front door to try and see what was going on, but at that point she ‘couldn’t even see’ due to the thick smoke.

She got Dukey’s lead and tried to get downstairs only for her beloved pooch ‘to spook’ and rush back inside.

Firefighters then arrived and took control of the situation, taking both Pam and Dukey out of the maisonette block.

Incident commander for Merseyside Fire and Rescue Gareth Evans told the ECHO at the scene: “What we were presented with was quite possibly the worst fire I’ve seen in a long, long time.

“The smoke coming from the block made it almost impossible to find out which flat was on fire.

“It was horrendous, they were so lucky to get out.”

Pam reiterated just how thankful she was for having Dukey saying ‘without her baby she doesn’t think she would be here’.

“Everybody has been fussing over him today and I think he knows what he has done,” she added.

“I got Dukey about two and a half years ago. Some lad had him but couldn’t cope with him due to working all the time.

“He never got out and a friend of mine said she knew someone that had a dog and asked me if I wanted it.

“I said no, but they brought him round to show me anyway. I took one look at him and said oh go on then!”

Pam added: “Now he’s become my everything, he’s a fantastic dog and a hero to be honest.

“He was sick after it all but he’s been absolutely fine since then.”

Fire investigators are at the property to determine the cause of the blaze.