TWO men escaped with their lives after saving an engineering works from being destroyed by fire.

The two unnamed nightshift workers leapt into action when they spotted smoke coming from a paint spraying booth at Middlesbrough engineering works Dowding and Mills.

Fire Station Officer Ron Carr said: "They were in the canteen when the fire broke out and they noticed a hazy smoke.

"They initially tried fighting the fire themselves with an extinguisher but realised there was no way they could put it out."

The pair called Cleveland Fire Brigade and gave crews detailed information about the layout of the building, on Lower East Street, St Hilda's, including details of where paints and cylinders were stored.

Yesterday's blaze, which is thought to have been sparked by an electrical fault, swept up a ventilation shaft into the roof.

The shaft collapsed but, fortunately, no one was hurt.

Mr Carr, who directed a team of 40 firefighters, said: "The whole place was full of smoke. We could not even see into the doorways because there was so much smoke.

"Because of the speedy reaction of the two workers and the intervention of the fire brigade the damage was minimised. Most importantly in these circumstances, no one was hurt.

"The damage to the premises was such that the business should not be affected.

"Because of the nature of the fire, the damage could have been an awful lot more, if they had not acted as they did."