SHE'S the mystery Good Samaritan who rushed a stranded bride to her wedding.

As the Daily Echo discovered, it's not the first time she's jumped in her car to ferry someone to a venue last minute.

Linda Dent was in her front garden in Bartley, in the New Forest, when beautiful bride-to-be Sam Smith swept up in a carriage pulled by white horses.

But as reported in the Daily Echo on Tuesday, Sam's dream wedding transport became a nightmare when a wheel fell off the carriage - and the 27-year-old was nearly pitched into the road.

Linda, 57, who runs a bed-and-breakfast at her home, swung into action.

When the limo carrying the bridesmaids failed to arrive, she bundled Sam and dad Lionel into her blue Renault Scenic people carrier and whisked them off to Lyndhurst's Forest Lodge via back roads.

They arrived with ten minutes to spare - but saviour Linda was modest about her hand in the special day.

"Anyone would have done the same. I was just in the right place at the right time," said the mum of two.

But Linda's help had not come to an end. When she returned home, the stranded driver asked if she could run him to his car and horse box in Lyndhurst.

She agreed - but when they arrived at the spot, having fought through the holiday traffic, the driver realised he'd left his keys in the carriage.

Linda drove him back to Bartley, collected the keys, and then faced the Lyndhurst traffic for the third time in a day and took him back to his car.

"It did take a chunk out of my afternoon, but it meant I didn't have to do the weeding or window cleaning," she added.

A friend contacted the Daily Echo to say this was not the first time Linda had saved the day.

About 20 years ago she ferried a boy all the way from Southampton to Bristol after he missed a coach to take him to a Hampshire schools cricket match.

"Again, I think anybody would have done it," said Linda. "I just thought, if it was my son missing the match I'd be terribly disappointed. It was quite an important thing - much like this wedding."