A street lighting engineer has been praised for saving a man’s life outside St Albans crown court.

Paul Wheeler, 55 – from Whitwell, near Hitchin – was grabbing lunch when he saw a crowd around a man on the floor of Victoria Street.

He said: “I checked to see if the gentleman was breathing using a procedure I had learnt on my first aid course.

“He wasn’t, and I’m glad I knew what to do.”

Paul began mouth-to-mouth while someone called for an ambulance, and continued until the paramedics took over.

He said: “I feel quite good about it because of the training I had.

“People standing there did not have a clue what to do.

“This is the second time I’ve administered CPR to a member of public, and although the incident left me slightly shaken, I would not hesitate to carry out this again thanks to the training I’ve been provided.

“I would recommend members of the public should get first aid training.”

Paul first provided CPR to a friend of his son’s who had heart problems, in Hitchin 20 years ago.

He originally learned with St John Ambulance when he was in the Scouts.

“Things have changed from training we used to get to what we get now,”

His employers, council contractor Ringway, only found out about his heroism because Paul’s wife Mandy told him to tell them.

Ringway divisional manager, Kevin Carrol, said: “We are all so proud of Paul and what he managed to do.

“This shows the importance of first aid courses, and is why we decided to offer these to our employees as you never know when the training will become useful.”