A heroic nurse stepped in to pull a man from a burning car when she passed a crash in Romford on her morning commute.

Mags Chineah, who has worked with the Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Trust (BHRUT) for over 30 years, was running late to work and being driven by her daughter Nicole when she witnessed a crash on Dagenham Road, Rush Green.

She was able to pull a man in his 50s from his car as the bonnet went up in flames.

“I saw a car crash into a sign on a mini-roundabout and could see flames under the bonnet straight away," she said.

“I was worried it would explode so I jumped out of the car and sprinted over.”

The London Fire Brigade were quick to the scene, and firefighters put out the flames to prevent an explosion.

Mags said the driver was “in shock” and so “wasn’t moving very fast”.

She added: "I helped pull him out and got him away from the car as quickly as I could.

"I was completely acting on instinct.”

She said Nicole called 999 and, once she had checked both drivers were fine, headed into work as a heart failure nurse as the emergency services arrived to takeover.

It’s not the first time the mum-of-three has helped out in the face of an emergency, as she often assisted people who have collapsed in public and even helped someone who had collapsed on a plane.

Mags explained: “It was in 1999 and I was on a flight with two of my children when they were little.

“A call went out for a nurse or doctor as someone had collapsed so I went to help. In that case it was a simple faint.

“I never panic in an emergency and it doesn’t bother me to run towards a situation. In this case, it was the first time I’d sprinted in years – and I think I pulled something!”

Both Queen's and King George Hospitals, in Romford and Ilford respectively, are run by BHRUT.