The 'exceptional bravery' of a retained firefighter in rescuing a drowning girl from a river has been recognised with a high-ranking award.

Geoff Maxwell was presented with the St Andrew's medal for an exceptional act of bravery for his actions as tragedy struck in Longtown.

The Langholm joiner, who received a commendation from Cumbria Constabulary for the rescue in June last year, also received the Brave@Hearts medal from Scotland's first minister, Nicola Sturgeon.

He was working on a house next to the River Esk when he was called to the river by frantic shouts and saw a young girl and her father struggling in the fast-moving water.

He jumped into the water, pulled the girl to the surface and brought her back to shore. He continued to help with the rescue operation by directing emergency services to the location but, tragically, the father’s body was recovered from the river the next day.

The citation from his commanding officer, which was used in his nomination for the award, said: "Geoff is very modest in his recollection of events but his bravery and heroic actions saved the life of the young girl who, without his selfless intervention, would have drowned.

"This was a courageous and selfless act carried out at great personal risk. This was an devastating event for the family but the situation would have been even worse were it not for Geoff's bravery and determination."

Geoff said the awards at Edinburgh Castle: "I didn't know I had been nominated for the Brave@Hearts award until a couple of months ago, which was more than a year after the rescue. I didn't know I was going to be given the St Andrew's medal as well.

"There was another man there who I knew was going to receive it and I was wondering who else would get one. It was totally unexpected when they read out my name.

"I asked one of the panel members how they distinguished between people and he said a lot of criteria had to be met and my particular situation met them.

"I had not heard of the St Andrew's medal so I googled it. It was set up by Alex Salmond as a Scottish equivalent to the George medal in England."

Of the incident, he said: "I am really a bad swimmer. I took off my boots, which have steel toe caps, but I kept on my trousers which have kneepads and had my measuring tape in a pocket.

"The way we are trained as firefighters is not to go into the water but I could not have lived with myself if I had not tried."