A HERO cabbie who helped to pull a family of five from a car crash has been awarded the freedom of his home town.

John Davis, 41, of Cullings Court, Waltham Abbey, battled to free Juliet Anderson and her children when he was first on the scene of a three-vehicle car crash, in Epping New Road, last year.

He has now been awarded the Honorary Freedom of the Town of Waltham Abbey in recognition of his deeds, which he is still modest about.

He said: “Some of my friends have had a joke and talked about driving sheep through the town. I’m not the sort of person who accepts these things because of pride- I’m receiving this on behalf of all the people who were involved.

“It’s nice to be recognised and to be thanked, but it wasn’t just me involved. This is for them too.”

No stranger to awards, Mr Davis has also had his actions recognised by the district council and also Loughton Town Council when he was nominated for a civic award by Mrs Anderson.

She said: “He’s an absolutely genuinely lovely guy, I can say that for sure. He’s incredibly modest and a bit embarrassed, but he was amazing.

“What he did was fantastic. He was kind, quick-thinking and did all the right things. We couldn’t be more grateful. I hope he enjoys his new award.”

When Mr Davis first saw the crash, on July 11, last year, he immediately sprang into action pulling Mrs Anderson and her children James, Nicholas, Alex and Ollie form their crushed vehicle, before fire crews arrived.

He also dragged an unconscious man from one of the other vehicles in the pile-up while his car burst into flames.

People still praise Mr Davis for his actions one year on and he is regularly stopped on the street.”

He said: “It was completely overwhelming. Every time I do a run to the petrol station I get a few words. People who have seen my picture in the paper come up and say: ‘Well done’. I even got a letter from Eleanor Laing.”