Charmaine Laurie was in the cab of a number 11 Lothian bus heading along Frogston Road in blizzard conditions on Wednesday when she sensationally showed male chauvinists around the world that women are every bit as good at driving as they are.

The heroic mum-of-two displayed superb handling skills to drift her and the 20 passengers she was ferrying round a Mini that suddenly blocked the road.

The lightning fast manoeuvre avoided what could have been a very serious accident.

Revealed: The Edinburgh bus driver who averted snow disaster

Footage of the incident, which was recorded by chance on a van driver’s dash cam, quickly went viral across the internet.

The identity of Meadowbank resident Charmaine was revealed by the Evening News yesterday.

Her story has since been picked up by almost every major UK newspaper and has made headlines as far away as Singapore and the USA.

Charmaine Laurie is making headlines worldwide. Picture: Good Morning Britain/ITV

Earlier today she appeared via live video link on both the BBC and on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, where she told hosts Ben Shepherd and Kate Garraway that her ‘training kicked in’ the moment the car appeared suddenly in front of her.

Charmaine, who has now been hailed the female ‘Stig’, has received praise from thousands of people across social media, including Red Dwarf star Danny John-Jules, who tweeted: “For every man out there who has uttered the words ‘WOMEN DRIVERS!!’”.

Another Twitter user, @bratchy1, said Charmaine should be given a Pride of Britain award: “I reckon everyone should nominate that Edinburgh bus driver, she saved a lot of lives with one quick motion. True hero.”

Not everyone was so impressed, however.

Incorrectly making the assumption that the driver was male, @DrSkyrme fumed: “Why was he a “hero bus driver”? Was CLEARLY going way too fast for the conditions. He avoided an avoidable collision. Hardly a hero.”

Charmaine told the Evening News that due to the snowy conditions and poor visibility, she was travelling at between 15-20mph at the time of the already legendary swerve.

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Hero bus driver Charmaine Laurie shoots to national fame