A GREENOCK hero saved a man’s life after rescuing him from falling into the Clyde.

Frank Shields was eating a Chinese takeaway in his car at the Custom House Quaywhen he spotted a man standing dangerously close to the edge of the water.

The 51-year-old, who works as a night porter at the nearby Custom House Hotel, immediately sprang into action as the incident unfolded last Monday at around 9.30pm.

He rushed over and managed to pull the man away from the waterside.

Frank, who lives in Norfolk Road, told the Tele: “Before I started work I went and got a Chinese and sat in my car at the Custom House.

“I spotted this guy in his 60s near the edge of the water.

“He was holding a carrier bag and he suddenly threw it in to the water.

“Then he went over to the gate where the Waverley usually comes in.

“When I saw him opening the gate I shot round in my car as it looked like he was going to jump in.

“A girl who was passing by ran over too and she was saying to him ‘don’t be silly, come away from there’.

“I ran over and managed to take the man’s arm and closed the gate.

“It is fair to say that I probably did save his life.

“He would’ve either fallen into the water or jumped in.”

Despite his heroics, Frank remains modest.

He added: “It’s just something you have to do.

“I was quite calm.”

This is not the first time that Frank has been a hero.

Back in June 1980, at the age of just 14, he made the front page of the Tele for his role in tackling a masked robber.

He said: “I used to hang about outside the newsagents in Cumberland Walk and one night a masked robber targeted the shop.

“Me and my friends held the door of the shop shut to keep the guy in.”

Frank and his fellow schoolboy heroes, Jack Kane, Nicholas McKinnon, Jim Black and James O’Neil, received a special award at the Sheriff Court for their bravery at the time.

The story that appeared in the Tele 37 years ago, said: “The lads’ heroic act reads like something from a schoolboy novel.

“They spotted a robber in the act of taking money from an off-sales store, and tackled him as he tried to make a getaway.

“They tried to block the door of the shop as he ran out, then chased him along a street, grabbing his stocking mask and causing him to drop a wad of banknotes.”

Frank says he’s relieved his latest rescue act also had a happy ending.

He told the Tele: “I’m just glad I got to him before he went in the water, because I can’t swim!”