A Scottish schoolgirl made an exciting trip to meet one of the most famous politicians in Britain — and promptly nodded off.

The Barrhead News reports Lauren Cosgrove, age nine, was a guest at the most famous address in London as she prepared to pick up an award for bravery from the Firefighter’s Charity.

But after telling the home secretary Theresa May that the Barrhead youngster was fed up waiting to have her photo taken, she wandered off and picked a comfy couch for a kip.

“Mortified” mum Laura Patterson described the event as “completely surreal” — but little Lauren wasn’t done yet as she would go on to accidentally drop her award, smashing it to bits.

Laura, 37, said: “Our visit to London started with our visit to Downing Street, and that was strange.

“It’s nothing like what you think it is, it’s much smaller for a start, but when we were inside Lauren met with the home secretary and I could see them chatting away — I was terrified about what she might be saying.

“But after that she was waiting to get her photo taken, and Lauren being Lauren wandered off, and when we found her she had picked a couch in Downing Street and was curled up fast asleep.

“It was the cutest thing ever — even if I was a bit mortified.”

Lauren’s visit to London with her family and the entire crew of Barrhead Fire Station came about after local firefighters, who have adopted Lauren as their station mascot, nominated her for the Spirit of Fire Youth of Courage Award.

Inspirational Lauren has led a tough life after being born 27 weeks prematurely — leading to severe medical issues.

She now suffers from short bowel syndrome after having most of her lower intestines removed, and lives 24 hours a day connected to life-giving machines which feed nutrients directly into her heart.

She is unable to eat and digest food normally, and must carry around a back pack that is the equivalent of a third of her own body weight whenever she goes out.

But despite this the St John’s Primary School pupil launched a charity, at the tender age of seven, to help other children in her situation, by providing support in the form of specialist swimsuits, and fund raising for Yorkhill Children’s Hospital, where Lauren has spent months of her life receiving treatment.

And her actions have inspired the crew of Barrhead Fire Station so much, that they nominated her for a national award and have taken their own fundraising efforts to new heights.

Laura said: “After visiting Downing Street we had to get ready for the award ceremony itself, and that was an incredibly humbling and emotional experience.

“We met so many brave people and heard so many amazing stories, and it meant a lot for us to have the firefighters there with us.

“They have been fantastic through everything, and I can’t thank them enough.”

Lauren’s incredible feats earned her the Spirit of Fire bravery award, and it was posing for photographs in the lobby of London’s swanky Park Plaza Hotel that potential disaster struck.

Laura said: “We were standing there posing for photos with Lauren holding the award when it just slipped from her hands.

“I could not believe it, it smashed in to a thousand bits.”

Thankfully the charity are sending Lauren a replacement award, and she is set to tour fire stations across the area, telling her story of bravery in the hope that she can inspire other people.