A MEDAL given to a Cowdenbeath man for an attempted mine rescue has sold at auction for £3,600.

The collector had originally purchased the piece for just £30 and it was part of a single-vendor collection of more than 1000.

The Life Saving medal of the Order of St John (2nd type 1888 with lions and unicorns) was awarded to Evangelist Miner John Jones for "conspicuous bravery displayed at Dunhill Colliery, Fife on 26th August 1901 by rescuing several miners who had become entombed".

He then descended to the rescue when the water and mud burst in and they were entombed for nearly 30 hours.

It was presented by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales KG, Edward VII, at St James' Palace on July 14 1902.

The full collection was auctioned by Gavin Durward Tavendale in the Rosewell (Midlothian) branch of Thomson Roddick Callan and realised more than £50,000.