HAVE-A-GO hero Andrew Costello averted a potential disaster after helping to put out a fire on a petrol station forecourt.

But Mr Costello said he was left gobsmacked when no one said thank you for his assistance at the Hazlemere Esso Garage, in Hindhead Road.

An Esso spokesman has now told the Free Press: "We are extremely grateful to the man in the CCTV footage who assisted in putting out the fire."

Mr Costello, a 24-year-old plumber, was buying a newspaper last Wednesday evening when he noticed flames licking around a lorry that had just been filled up with petrol.

He said he ran from the store at the garage to help as the lorry driver doused the flames with a small fire extinguisher.

He said: "He [the lorry driver] put it down for some reason, perhaps thinking the fire had been put out but then I noticed that more flames had erupted between the cab and the trailer so I grabbed the extinguisher and finished off the job," he said.

Mr Costello, of Lacey Drive, Hazlemere, added that after he put out the flames in front of an audience of onlookers including the driver the of red lorry he went back into the shop to buy his paper.

He said: "The whole thing was quite unreal.

"I went back up to the counter and no one said anything.

"Then the man behind the counter said 'that will be £1.20 for the paper'. I paid up and left."

Mr Costello also says that staff did not help him extinguish the blaze, although Esso is adamant its own cashier discharged an extinguisher at the smoke's source and made the situation safe.

An Esso spokesman said: "Safety of customers and staff at our service stations is of paramount importance to us and all staff take part in thorough training to deal with such incidents. "

He added: "We recognise the male customer gave assistance and himself decided to discharge an extinguisher but he left without leaving any contact details with the site so we have been unable to contact him.

"We are appreciative of assistance given by members of the public at our sites."