A SERIOUSLY injured man was dragged from his blazing house this morning.

The man, who is thought to have been injured before the fire started, was named by neighbours as Martin Lewis, aged 41,of Glassworks Cottages, Crindau, Newport.

He is in a 'critical but stable' condition at the Royal Gwent Hospital, Newport, after being dragged from his house by three police officers.

Police are treating the incident as attempted murder. They are questioning a 25-year-old local man in connection with the fire and have appealed for witnesses to come forward. The alarm was raised at 2.45 am by neighbour Tony Knight when he arrived home from work.

He said: "Thick smoke was coming from the smashed front window. I tried to knock down the front door with another neighbour but couldn't get in.

"When the police arrived they went round the back, smashed the door and dragged Martin out. He was in a bad way."

The three police officers who crawled through the smoke-filled house to find Mr Lewis 'badly wounded' in the kitchen, were commended for their bravery this morning by Detective Inspector Dave Edwards of Newport Central station.

He said: "Fortunately, the injured man has survived this horrific incident due to the quick thinking and brave actions of the three officers who attended.

"We are treating this as an attempted murder and we will be interviewing a local man later today."

Another neighbour, who didn't want to be identified, said: "I awoke to see a man running out of the house. I didn't know him. Then I tried to help Tony to try and knock down the front door."

The fire, which was in the lounge of the terraced house, left the building gutted. Neighbouring houses were left with extensive smoke damage.

No-one else was injured, but neighbours said Mr Lewis' dog was still missing. Police arrested a man in connection with the incident near to the scene.

The cause of the fire is not yet known and an investigation was due to be carried out by fire investigators and Gwent Police.

*PICTURED: A police officer outside the house.