Three teenagers were today hailed as heroes for preventing tragedy after their father suffered a seizure at the wheel of his car in the fast lane of a busy motorway.

While many youngsters would have frozen with fear, Zoe Leigh Devey, aged 15, her brother Ben, aged 12, and 14-year-old step sister Jodie Hancock, sprang into action to steer the family to safety.

The drama unfolded on Monday on the M5 motorway near Bristol when Mr Devey, a 43-year-old publican, had a fit while driving.

He was taking Ben and Zoe back to their mother Jacqueline Devey-Hipkiss’s home in Hurst Hill from his house in Devon.

It was Jodie who first saw what was happening and leapt to the rescue by pulling on the handbrake to slow the car down and taking hold of the wheel.

He screams of terror alerted Zoe in the back seat and she jumped in to help steer the car to safety.

“I heard my step sister screaming and when I looked at my dad’s face it was all pale and ghostly,” said Zoe, of Paul Street, Hurst Hill.

“We tried to steer across straight away but we couldn’t because there was so much traffic coming towards us so we kept driving straight on until it was safe.

“There were cars coming straight for us but we just aimed for the hard shoulder and crashed in into a bush so we’d stop.”

Once on the hard shoulder, Ben stepped in to stop his father from choking and Zoe made a frenzied call to her mother who alerted 999 operators who were able to trace the children’s position.

Two ambulances and two police cars rushed to the scene and Mr Devey was taken to Frenchay Hospital in Bristol where he was given medication before being discharged the next day.

Mr Devey, who runs a pub called The Bell Inn, moved to Collumpton, Devon, eight years ago following his divorce from telesales assistant Mrs Devey-Hipkiss, 44.

She said: “I still can’t believe how quickly they all acted – I am extremely proud of them.”

Mr Devey told his children: “I am sorry I could have killed you but I am thankful you saved my life.”

He is undergoing tests to find the cause of the seizure.