A woman has told for the first time how she saved a neighbour’s life when she dragged her from her burning home.

Brave Lynne Spencer, 60, risked her own safety to rescue neighbour 92-year-old Peggy Riva from her flat in Church Street, Paddock.

Incredibly Lynne, who has limited mobility due to multiple sclerosis, found the strength to crawl into the smoke filled flat to find her friend, and managed to pull her to safety.

She said: “I had to get her out. The flat was billowing black smoke. I didn’t have time to think. You do things automatically.

“You hear about people who say they’ve had the strength of 10 men when they have to move cars for people trapped and it was like that.

“When the adrenaline kicks in you just do what you have to do.”

Hear Lynne describing how she had to drag Peggy from the burning, smoke filled house

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Lynne has spoken for the first time about what happened in March after it was announced she will receive a Royal Humane Society award for bravery.

She said: “It was about 9am and someone who was delivering leaflets knocked on my door and that’s when I heard the smoke alarm.

“I looked and saw smoke coming out of her door. I just knew she was in there and I had to get her out.”

Lynne and Peggy

Lynne quickly dashed back to her flat to grab her phone to alert the fire brigade before returning to the flat to get Peggy to safety.

She said a passer-by, who had been delivering leaflets, held the flat door open and she went in on all fours.

She said: “I took a deep breath, shut my eyes, got on my hands and knees and was feeling around.

“When I got to her bedroom doorway she was laid on the floor.

Lynne Spencer, left, and Peggy Riva, at Paddock Lodge Care Home

“I shouted her name and I heard her make a noise.

“I managed to grab underneath her arms and drag her out. I put her on a chair outside and went and got her a blanket.

“I said to her ‘Are you alright?’ and she said she was ‘fine.’

“She’s as tough as old boots!”

Peggy was checked out at hospital and has since moved into a care home.

Lynne added: “It wasn’t until I came back in my flat after the paramedics had taken her to hospital that I really thought to myself ‘did that really just happen?’

“I was shaking and still in my pyjamas which were black. I am so relieved she’s alright.”

Lynne and Peggy chatting at Peggy's nursing home

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Lynne was visited by the police to give a statement and the officers told her they wanted to put her forward for a bravery award.

“My daughter said I was brave and so did the policewoman but I just think I did what anyone would do for a friend.”

The Royal Humane Society has been acknowledging bravery for more than two centuries.

Secretary Dick Wilkinson said: “Anyone who goes into a building that is on fire is taking an enormous risk. But, despite her own problems, Ms Spencer did not hesitate to go to the aid of her neighbour.

Lynne and Peggy

“She showed incredible bravery and is a true heroine. Undoubtedly she was the right person in the right place at the right time.

“If she had not acted as she did, when she did, there is little doubt that this fire would have ended with far more tragic consequences. She richly deserves the award. It was a very courageous act on her part.”

West Yorkshire Police described Lynne’s actions as “selfless and courageous.”

No date has yet been fixed for the award presentation.