THE Prince of Wales and the Prime Minister have honoured the bravery of a woman who risked her life to steer dozens of bus passengers to safety.

Mum-of-three Irene King, who lives off Clough End Road, Haslingden, was presented with a Pride of Britain Award for Outstanding Bravery at a star-studded ceremony in London last night.

The accolade was given in recognition of her courage when she brought a runaway bus to a standstill after its driver collapsed at the wheel in May.

The 49-year-old was travelling home from Manchester in rush hour when the driver collapsed and the bus swerved into the fast lane of the M60.

Psychiatric nurse Irene leapt into action, standing on tiptoes to grab the wheel when she could not get into the driver's compartment, and steered the bus on to the hard shoulder. Unable to reach the brakes, she drove the bus into a roadworks barrier where it stopped.

Her actions potentially saved the lives of the 20 passengers, and she also looked after the driver until paramedics arrived; he later made a full recovery.

Irene was nominated for the award by Greater Manchester Police, whose Chief Superintendent David Anthony said: "There's no doubt that her quick thinking saved the lives of 20 passengers, and motorists too."

In February, Irene received special honours from the Chief Constable Michael Todd.

A-list celebrities including Rod Stewart, Kylie Minogue, The Beckhams, and Jude Law joined Tony Blair and Prince Charles in saluting Irene and other national heroes after they were chosen out of more than 20,000 people by a panel of judges.

Irene said: "I was just acting instinctively. The adrenaline kicks in and I didn't realise at the time how dangerous it was.

"It is such a big event with lots of famous people and I have been really looking forward to it."

The Pride of Britain Awards is on ITV1 tonight at 9pm.