Security guard Faz Aziz's routine night patrol turned from humdrum to high drama when he rescued a pensioner from his burning flat in Oxford.

Mr Aziz, 25, was walking around Upper Barr, at Templars Square shopping centre, in Cowley, at 4am last Tuesday, when he noticed black smoke billowing out of a flat above the Timpson key cutting and shoe repairs shop.

He immediately radioed through to a colleague to call 999 for the fire service, while he went up to the flat to see if he could help.

Mr Aziz, who lives in East Oxford and has been working for St James Security at the shopping centre for just two weeks, said: "I could hear someone inside, so I knocked very hard on the door and he opened the door looking a bit confused and sleepy. I went in there to get him out quickly."

Mr Aziz said he believed the fire broke out when a spotlight fell from the ceiling on to a mattress in the bedroom.

He added that he was "just doing my job" and was not concerned about his personal safety when he rushed to the man's aid on May 30.

He said: "I wasn't worried really, because someone needed to be helped.

"I thought, 'I've just got to get him out'. The fire was spreading."

Mr Aziz emerged from the fire unscathed, although the pensioner, who was in his 80s, needed medical treatment for smoke inhalation.

His managers were so impressed by his actions that they arranged to present him with a special award today.

Centre manager Wendy White said: "We're extremely proud of him.

"It was the training the whole team gave him in the preceding week that enabled both officers involved to respond quickly."

Peter Durham, the managing director of St James Security, said: "We train our staff to expect the unexpected and take the unusual in their stride.

"We're delighted that such a potentially dangerous situation should have been averted."