THREE life-saving youngsters are to be honoured for their brave actions this week.

Shay Corrie, from Houghton-le-Spring, Wearside, and Rachael and Emma Mawdsley, from Ripon, North Yorkshire, have won Woman's Own Children of Courage awards.

The young heroes will be honoured at a celebrity-filled ceremony at Westminster Abbey on Wednesday.

Thousands of youngsters were nominated for the Children of Courage award, but the panel of judges, which included television presenters Lorraine Kelly and Fiona Phillips, decided to honour only 12.

Nine-year-old Shay was left in a coma after he threw himself in front of his friend, five-year-old Jack Briggs, to try to protect him from the impact of a seven-tonne lorry as they walked near their homes.

Both boys were flung dozens of yards as the lorry hit them.

Shay took the brunt of the impact, almost certainly saving Jack's life.

His head injuries required surgery and he was unconscious in a hospital intensive care unit for almost a week.

The accident left him with a zig-zag scar on his head - just like his hero, Harry Potter.

Shay will be joined at the ceremony by sisters Rachael and Emma Mawdsley, who led their family to safety after fire broke out in their Ripon home.

The girls woke in the middle of the night to find their house full of smoke and flames, caused by a faulty television that had set curtains alight.

Rachael, 12, and Emma, 11, had taken a course at school on how to react in emergency situations and calmly led to safety their three siblings and four friends who were staying the night.

Their mother, Julia, 29, who said she was terrified during the fire, said: I am so proud of them.

"I am not sure how I would have coped if they had not been so calm."

The three are looking forward to spending a day as celebrities. They will begin at 10 Downing Street, where they will have breakfast with Tony and Cherie Blair.

They will then go to Westminster Abbey, where they will receive their awards and mingle with celebrities such as Cat Deeley, Simon Cowell, Denise Van Outen and the casts of EastEnders, Coronation Street and Emmerdale.

The day will end with a dinner at the House of Lords.