Three friends from Soham have been praised as “heroes” for helping police rescue an elderly lady with Alzheimer’s disease after she went missing wearing just a t-shirt and trousers.

Ben Mitcham, Ellis Badgery, both 19-years-old, and Nathan Clark, 20, have been commended by hundreds of local people for going out of their way.

Ben, a trainee barber, said: “We heard that there were police helicopter’s near my mate’s house, so looked on the Soham Debate page on Facebook and saw that a little old lady had dementia had gone missing.

“Luckily, we had seen her two minutes before seeing the post. It was just down to chance that we saw her and helped.

“We noticed she was looking into the houses and appeared to be lost and scared.

“I walked quite far behind her to make sure she was okay and then when we reached a dead end she turned around and walked towards me.

“I spoke to her, told her I had called the police and then offered her my coat.”

After the police arrived and took the lady home, the officer thanked the three friends who went to school in Soham together for helping them.

Ben added: “You wouldn’t just leave an old lady walking about. I asked if she was cold but she said she was quite strong.

Ellis, who is a roofer, said he was “glad to help”.

His mum, Amanda Mitcham, said: “I was thrilled. All my neighbours have been so happy that they went out of their way to help this little old lady.

“What a nice thing for three young lads to do. They have had about 400 people commend them for it on Facebook.

“I was really proud. In fact, it made the most perfect Mother’s Day present.”