On June 2, a retired firefighter leapt into action to save an 86-year-old woman’s life after her kitchen caught fire.

Paul Clark, 64, of Scotland Green Road North, Enfield, drew on his 27 years' experience in the service when he helped save the life of neighbour Vera Randall.

When he heard a smoke alarm coming from his neighbour's house, Mr Clark climbed the fence before running into her house and rescuing her.

A station manager at Edmonton fire station for five years, he said: “I just reacted instinctively to jump over the fence and drag her away from the fire."

Elsewhere, a paranoid schizophrenic who beheaded a pensioner and two cats during a 45-minute rampage was cleared of murder - but detained indefinitely in hospital.

Palmira Silva, 82, was in her garden when she was attacked by Nicholas Salvador, 25, who stabbed and beheaded her during a delusional episode in Nightingale Road, Edmonton.

The Old Bailey in June heard Salvador was armed with a wooden pole and machete and had to be tasered six times by police before being detained following a violent struggle on September 4, 2014.

It took just 41 minutes for a jury to clear the 25-year-old, of Gilda Avenue, of murder on the grounds of insanity following a two-day trial. He will be detained at Broadmoor Hospital.

Finally, cramped trains and delays blighted the first 11 days of London Overground’s running of the Enfield Town train line.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson was in buoyant mood when he announced the new service at Enfield Town station on June 1.

The service runs to Liverpool Street through Bush Hill Park, Edmonton Green and Silver Street stations, but is yet to live up to its billing as London Overground struggles to replace trains used by Abellio and Greater Anglia.

Roger Green, who commutes into London from Enfield Town, described the service over the first 11 days as a “farce”.