A St Albans driving instructor who only qualified last year has been named the top teacher in the country.

Amanda Green found her passion for teaching people to drive when practising with her twin daughters alongside their driving lessons.

She left her career as a teaching assistant to train as a driving instructor and has already made a huge impact on her students.

The Hertfordshire-based Approved Driving Instructor (ADI) was nominated by former student Michelle Broadley for going the extra mile, and now proudly sports a car window sticker carrying the title of Driving Instructor of the Year 2017.

Amanda, who operates under the LDC franchise as Pass with Amanda, said: “I can’t believe I’ve won. I feel so privileged to have even been nominated, so this is a huge reward for the hard work and hours dedicated to my new career.

“It was a pleasure to teach Michelle and I can’t thank her enough for her nomination.”

Past pupil Michelle added: “My family was going through an incredibly difficult time with my husband facing a double lung transplant. I had all but given up driving because of a previous instructor making me feel incredibly nervous.

“That was until my son wrote a note in his communication book about his dad's operation. It simply read ‘what happens if daddy dies – no-one will drive’.

“Of all the worries going through his head, this was something I could ease the burden of.

“I couldn't have done it without Amanda getting me through it all. Amanda knew the delicate situation, supported me through my lack of confidence and led me to pass first time with no minors.

“She's even going the extra mile for my family by joining us on a charity fun run for Harefield Hospital.”

The nationwide Driving Instructor of the Year competition was run as part of Learner Driver Week, a recent campaign championing the UK’s learner drivers.