Sarah Payne's mother among Britain's bravest women

The mother of murdered schoolgirl Sarah Payne is to be honoured as one of Britain's bravest women.

The mother of murdered schoolgirl Sarah Payne is to be honoured as one of Britain's bravest women.

Sara Payne, disabled athlete Tanni Grey-Thompson and Paddington rail crash survivor Pam Warren are among the eight women named as Britain's bravest by Best magazine.

Editor Louise Court said the women were selected for their "courage, strength and determination".

Mrs Payne, 31, from Hersham, Surrey, whose eight-year-old daughter Sarah was murdered after she vanished during a family holiday in West Sussex last July, said: "I don't think I'm brave.

"People do things like run into burning buildings to rescue people, but I'm just carrying on.

"It's the family that have kept me going and we pick each other up. It's the kids who've been brave, not me."

Spina bifida sufferer Tanni Grey-Thompson, 31, from Chelmsford, Essex, won four gold medals for Britain at the Sydney Paralympics last year and was recently awarded the CBE.

Pam Warren, 34, from Pangbourne, Berks, has campaigned for improved rail safety since the Paddington rail crash in October 1999 which killed 31, injured 500 and left her with massive facial injuries.

The other women named are: Julie McCready, 21, from Edinburgh; Pauline Blight, 51, from Ashwater, Devon; Linda Robinson, 45, from Cannock, Staffs; Mary Smelczerczyk, 38, from Hull; and Nighat Rashid, 42, from Thornton Heath, Surrey.

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