Hannah England says her achievement in last week’s World Athletics Championships in South Korea is finally starting to sink in.

But the Oxford City runner says that she is determined to try and keep her feet on the ground – despite her rapid rise to stardom.

England produced a stunning performance to finish second in the women’s 1,500m final.

And the 24-year-old admits that having landed back in Britain and had a few days of normality, she can now reflect on just what she achieved.

Speaking exclusively to the Oxford Mail, England said: “It didn’t feel real for quite a while.

“When you sit at home seeing other people doing it, you think what a massive achievement it is.

“When I did it for myself, I thought, ‘OK, I’ve just finished second in a race doing what I do’.

“But sitting down in the cold light of day, I know how satisfying it was to achieve what I did.”

England, pictured on her arrival at Heathrow this week, has three more events left this season, starting with a Diamond League meeting in Brussels on September 16.

This is followed a day later by the City Games in Newcastle, before she travels to the USA to compete in the Fifth Avenue Mile in New York on September 24.

And after that?

“I’m just going to be putting my feet up and having a good rest,” she said. “I will have at least a couple of weeks with no running.

“I’m really excited because Hatti Dean has moved to Birmingham, so we’ll be training together. That will be brilliant.”

With London 2012 looming, England said: “In some ways, I think I’ll be under less pressure now, because I know exactly what I need to do and have now done it.

“It’s exciting to think I have another year to put in the training. I’ve known for a couple of years that I can compete with the top girls.

“It’s all very well doing it at the Grand Prix meetings, but to actually nail it at a major championships was just awesome.”