AN online appeal has raised more than £2,000 after a young Wellington family’s home was destroyed in a fire on Tuesday (July 14).

The blaze ripped through a first floor flat in a block of flats in Holyoake Street where a woman and her young son lived.

Fortunately, the property was empty as the boy was at a playgroup and his mother was at work for Prestige Cleaning, while their two Labrador dogs were being looked after elsewhere.

Neighbours were quick to praise hero bricklayer sub-contractor Cameron Giles, who ran into the burning building when nobody knew if anybody was still inside.

Mr Giles happened to be driving past after a session in Wellington Sports Centre’s gym when he saw the commotion and pulled over.

He told the Wellington Weekly: “Nobody could get hold of the woman who lived in the flat so they did not know if she was in there.

“All you could see from the street was just flames coming out over the balcony.

“I just ran up to her flat and got the door open and smoke was coming out.”

He was backed up by resident Jack Lyons who went with him and kept the corridor open in case an evacuation was needed.

Mr Giles said: “I thought, if she was in there she could have been asleep or anything, you just do not know.

“It was pitch black and I could not see anything so I went in and shouted her name a few times and then went back down and by then they found out she was at work.”

A spokesperson for Prestige Cleaning, which has set up a GoFundMe appeal, said: “As a small local business, our team is like family, and we are asking our incredible community to come together and help in any way they can.”