Police have released a 999 recording made by a three-year-old Sofia Harman, who helped to save the life of her mother after she collapsed.

Little Sofia Harman raised the alarm after her mother, Patricia, who suffers from a rare medical condition which affects her heart, fell ill at the family home in Clacton, Essex.

Listen to Sofia's live-saving 999 call:

In the recording, call handler Julie Buckley establishes the situation and tells Sofia: "Well done. Listen to me, you are the cleverest little girl I know".

Sofia says "I'm scared", and Ms Buckley reassures her: "You're not scared Sofia, because listen, you are the bravest little girl I've ever spoken to and you're doing so well, and you're talking to me and you don't need to be scared."

Ms Buckley tells her that help is on its way, and keeps her talking about her pet dog as she uses the force intelligence systems to establish the address that the call has been made from.

She warns Sofia there might be a "big bang" on her front door and tells her not to be frightened as it will be an "ambulance man".

Noise is then heard in the background as Ms Hannington's partner Sam arrives home from work, picks up the phone and speaks to Ms Buckley.

Sofia and her family were later invited to police headquarters in Chelmsford where the youngster was presented with a bravery certificate.