A MILKMAN who comforted an elderly woman with dementia when he heard her screaming on his rounds has been branded a national hero.

Richard Lawrence was just putting a pint on the doorstep of a house in Woodford Green when he heard screaming coming from next door.

Looking up he saw an elderly woman leaning out of an upstairs window shouting at passers-by to call the police because there was a stranger in her house.

Richard had finished his shift and could have just gone home, but instead decided to try to calm the woman down and move her away from the window so she did not fall out.

After calling the police, the woman let him in and it turned out the “intruder” was her carer and she was suffering with dementia.

Richard, from Hornchurch, waited with the confused and upset pensioner until the police arrived.

When they heard about what happened, his employers Milk&More chose him over thousands of other delivery men and women around the country as the winner of their “milk hero award”.

The 28-year-old said: “It’s great to have been given this award but I don’t think I did anything that anyone else wouldn’t do.

“The lady in her 90s could have been my gran, so waiting with her until the police arrived was the only thing to do.

“Being able to help member of the community in this way is just one reason I love being a milkman.”

Congratulating him on his heroic efforts operations manager at Richard’s dairy Chris Beck said: “At Milk&More our focus is always on the local communities we serve and Richard’s caring and quick thinking responses are fantastic examples of why we believe every neighbourhood deserves a milkman.”