A QUICK-THINKING riding instructor who saved her elderly neighbour's life after a fire broke out in his garden has been awarded for her heroic actions. 

Steph Cox rescued her neighbour Brian Hawes after he became trapped among flames in his garden in Gloucester Avenue, in Maldon, in September 2021.

Brian was using a heat gun to get rid of weeds when a piece of paper caught fire by accident.

Steph saw the smoke and went to investigate, where she found Brian lying on the floor of his burning shed.

The shed, a tree and a fence were all on fire and Brian was struggling to get up as everything around him was up in flames.

She dragged him out of the shed and found that he had suffered severe burns to his back.

Brian suffered 15 per cent burns to his back and now lives in a care home.

He said: "I know without Steph I would not be here."

Fire crews from Maldon and South Woodham Ferrers spent an hour putting out the fire last year. 

Speaking at the time watch manager Martin Cable, from Maldon Fire Station, said: “Crews acted quickly to treat the man’s burns while we waited for our colleagues in the ambulance service.

"I’d like to praise the man’s neighbour who spotted the smoke and acted quickly to rescue the man from the scene and reassure him until we arrived.

“While everything is dry at the moment with the hot weather we’ve been having, we don’t recommend you use anything like a weed burner with a naked flame or have a bonfire. It only takes a few embers to start a fire in this dry weather."

READ MORE>>> On-call firefighters give first aid to injured man after shed fire

Steph has been recognised for saving his life and caring for him while they waited for an ambulance.

Maldon MP, Sir John Whittingdale presented the Great Neighbour Award in the BBC Essex Make a Difference Awards 2022 to Steph at the awards held in Hatfield Place in Hatfield Peverel.

Sir John said: "I am absolutely delighted that Steph has won the Great Neighbour Award which is thoroughly deserved.

“Without her quick thinking and courage, Brian would almost certainly have died.

“It was an honour to present her with the Award."