Mr Widdrington, 69, who suffers from angina, was woken up at 0100 GMT on Tuesday by the sound of his neighbour's home burning down.

When he discovered two children were still inside, he dashed into the house, risking falling debris and dense smoke, and carried them to safety.

Their mother, Zoe Jackson Graham, 24, was leading her four children from the house in Eastmoor, Wakefield, when part of the ceiling collapsed and trapped Joshua, four, and his brother Thomas, three.

Zoe Jackson Graham: "He risked his life for people he didn't know"

She said: "I owe my children's lives to Albert. I will never forget what he did for us.

"If it wasn't for him the boys would have been dead because the ceiling would have collapsed on them.

"He risked his own life for people he didn't even know - without thinking of the consequences."

Her other two children,Taylor, five, and Lacey, two, also escaped unhurt.

Ms Jackson Graham said she had not met her neighbour before the fire, having only moved into her house in June.

Mr Widdrington, a grandfather of seven, seemed embarrassed about the acclaim he has been receiving.

The remains of Ms Jackson Graham's house

"Everyone's saying I'm a hero, but you don't think. You just do it. I just happened to be there," he said.

He described how, with the help of Ms Jackson Graham's brother Craig, 15, he rescued the two boys.

"I thought it was some silly sod who had had too much to drink.

"I got out of bed and looked out of the window and saw flames shooting 6ft out of the roof and outside, Zoe was screaming: 'My two boys are upstairs'.

"I ran inside her house and jumped on the flames on the piece of ceiling that had collapsed and the burning carpet.

"I kicked the bottom two steps to see if they were solid, then I ran up the stairs and grabbed the screaming boys.

"I heard a bang and thought the steps had collapsed. When I looked round luckily they were still there and I had enough time to run out."

Ms Jackson Graham and her four children have already been released from Pinderfields Hospital. Mr Widdrington was released after treatment for smoke inhalation.