[Second from Left, Karen Buckland and daughter]

Mother-of-six Karen Buckland 39, has been commended for her bravery after pulling the 49-year driver from his burning bentley after she found him slumped at the wheel of his car.

Meanwhile her 15 year old daughter was on the phone to the emergency services and relayed instructions from the fire service while Mrs Buckland struggled to drag the man out of the car.

Mrs Buckland has since been awarded a County Fire Officer’s Commendation at Offerton Fire Station for saving her neighbour’s life.

But despite the obvious danger to her own life, Mrs Buckland said that the driver’s safety was her only priority.

She said: “I didn’t think about the danger to me. You do whatever you can to help someone survive and not think about the consequences for yourself.

“I didn’t realise how bad the fire was until I saw it on the CCTV and didn’t think about the implications for myself or my family. The fire also made me understand just how fantastic my daughter is and how calm she can be in a crisis.”

The driver has since made a full recovery and Mrs Buckland added that she is happy that he survived.

Mrs Buckland explained how she believed that fate led her to be there just in the nick of time.

She commented: “’I think it would have been much more difficult for us if the outcome had not been a good one. It’s so fortunate that I went out exactly when I did, it would have been very difficult to get to him.

“I was meant to be there, I was meant to save him – if it had been another minute, it would have been a very different story”

The blaze is thought to have been caused by an ‘over revving’ of the car’s engine.

County Fire Officer Steve McGuirk was also quick to praise her actions. He said: “It is without doubt in the minds of all those emergency service personnel who attended the incident on the day that, had Karen not displayed the utmost bravery and ignored the risk to her own life, the man would most certainly have lost his.

“Karen put her life on the line – watched by her family – to save this man and let there be no underestimation of the courage and strength of character that such actions take.”