A QUICK-WITTED youngster, who helped to save a woman from a burning flat, has been praised for his bravery by a senior judge.

Ashley Horsewood kicked in the front door of the blazing building before helping Tracey Morton, who was inside, to safety.

Despite Ashley's insistence that he had done nothing special, Judge Paul Hoffman told York Crown Court that the ten-year-old had "performed an act of great bravery for one so young".

He then gave Morton, 36, a two-year suspended sentence for starting the fire.

Morton, formerly of Bram-ham Avenue, York, pleaded guilty to endangering lives by arson when she started the blaze in the flat of her ex-boyfriend, David Frater, on January 26. She was locked inside the flat at the time.

Ashley had been walking along Bramham Avenue when he spotted flames in the first-floor flat.

He said: "I went to the next-door neighbour and told them, and they rang for an ambulance and the fire brigade. I heard the woman. I asked if she could get out and she said 'no'.

"She was kicking on one side of the door and I started kicking from the other side, and I got through first.

"I just helped her out and down the stairs and then I waited around the corner for the ambulance to arrive. I would do it again. I'm not afraid of fire."

Ashley will receive a certificate of commendation from Judge Hoffman.