Ray Cole had locked up Walls of Fame in the Arndale Centre and was on his way home when he collapsed.

An employee from the Animal clothing store alerted a security guard after she found Ray in one of the centre's service lifts.

Ray's wife phoned for an ambulance and John Brooks, who has worked in security at the Arndale Centre for 10 years, rushed to the scene and called for assistance on his radio.

John, 42, said, "When I arrived I saw he had collapsed in the lift and his head was in the doorway.

"His face had gone a purple colour and his lips were blue — I did not like the look of it.

"I spoke to Jim and he said we were going to need the defibrillator."

Jim Davis, 54, who has worked in security for 20 years, was also on the scene.

He said, "Nothing really went through my mind, I just acted instinctively.

"We checked the pulse — there was nothing there and he was going blue.

"I have never done anything like this before but we knew what we needed to do."

Jim started mouth-to-mouth while John gave chest compressions before the duty security manager, 49-year-old Gordon Thow, arrived with the defibrillator.

Gordon, who left the army and came to work as a security guard in the Arndale Centre in 1998, said, "I thought 'not again'. I have had to use the defib in the Arndale before and I hope I never have to do it again."

All three men are trained first aiders but John said, "When I first got there panic went through my mind. We deal with cuts and bangs but never anything as serious as this.

"You see defibrillators being used on the telly but that does not prepare you for what it looks like in real life."

Jim, John and Gordon continued treating Ray until the ambulance arrived and rushed the patient to Eastbourne DGH.

Ray's condition deteriorated and he was later moved to the National Hospital for Neuro-Surgery in London.

He suffered the heart attack around three weeks ago and is now making steady progress during a long period of rehabilitation in Eastbourne.

Ray's son, Phil Cole, said, "The whole family owes a great debt of gratitude to them for what they did that night."

Phil said the medics in London told him his father would have died had it not been for the three security officers.

The three men have been keeping tabs on Ray's progress. Jim said, "We pop in to Walls of Fame regularly and my wife is a ward sister at the DGH."

Bill Plumridge, Arndale Centre manager, added, "We are proud of the officers who responded so quickly and absolutely delighted to hear that Mr Cole is on the road to recovery.

"All of the security officers are trained to a high standard and with regular refresher sessions and this incident proves how valuable that training can be."

The trio will soon receive a commendation but the men are modest about their life-saving efforts. Jim said, "We do not really want all the publicity — we just did what we had to do."