A mystery teenager has been hailed a hero after he rescued a woman from her burning house.

The lad, named as Joaol, scaled a ladder to smash the upstairs window in Bedfont Lane, Feltham, before fighting through smoke to get her out The woman, a midwife who asked not to be named, said she would have died if he and two other men had not acted so quickly.

The men were forced to balance the ladder on a parked Mitsubishi land rover at 8pm on Wednesday so it would reach the bedroom window above Woodruff Building Contractors. A crowd of more than 20 neighbours spilled out into the street to witness the dramatic scenes.

The woman said: “I could smell smoke and I ran downstairs to find out what was happening. I opened the door and saw flames so I quickly shut it again.

“I could not get out the doorway and the fire was spreading everywhere.”

She ran upstairs and shouted out the window to her neighbour, who was standing in his drive and rushed to find a ladder.

She said: “There was a boy who came inside my house to rescue me, he was about 16, he deserves an award. I am really grateful.

“He broke the glass and came inside, and the other two were holding the ladder so I could get out. I could have died.”

The teenager and the woman were both treated in hospital for smoke inhalation and cuts.

The woman, who was alone in the house but has lived there with her husband for nine years, said she believed a generator outside her front door had started the fire.

A neighbour said he was on the phone when he heard an explosion and rushed outside to see “a ball of flames” in her garden.

Firefighters battled the blaze opposite Bedfont Lane Community Centre for two hours, bringing it under control at 10.16pm. Fire investigators were still at the scene today.

Do you know the hero? Tell us below or call our newsroom on 0208 744 4273.