A pair of kind-hearted teens swapped revision for rushing to the rescue of a stricken pensioner who had been knocked over by strong winds.

Sidmouth College pupils Chloe Towers and Georgia Ruse were both on their way to school when they saw Peter Flynn, 85, in trouble - and shielded him from the adverse weather with umbrellas.

Mr Flynn had been out to collect his daily newspaper last Thursday morning when heavy rain and high winds caused him to topple over in Milford Road.

The girls, who started their GCSEs the day before, stayed by his side for 25 minutes until an ambulance arrived.

Georgia, 16, was walking to school when she saw Mr Flynn fall over and went to help him

She said: “I knew the man by sight as he lives near to me. It was just lucky that we were in the right place at the right time to be able to help. He was very grateful and has invited us to pop round for a cup of tea sometime.”

Chloe, 15, who was in the car with her mum, saw her friend kneeling on the ground and went to help her.

She said: “My mum has seven umbrellas in her car. My dad always takes the mick that she has so many - but it was a good thing she did. We just huddled around him holding these umbrellas up. We just carried on talking to him until the ambulance arrived. I am an air cadet and I have first aid training. My mum is also first aid trained. I was working through what I might have to do in my head.”

Members of the public also stepped in to help, bringing the girls blankets to keep Mr Flynn dry.

An ambulance was called at 8.33am, and paramedics checked over Mr Flynn before taking him home.

Chloe’s mum, Gaynor, saw Mr Flynn in town at the weekend, and he told her that he had suffered bumps and bruises - but was on his way to recovery.

Mrs Towers said of the girls: “I am really proud that they are caring for elderly people in the community.”