Warwickshire PC 'bore weight of car' to save trapped man

PC Dear said he wanted to show the trapped, injured man someone was "there with him"

A policeman who saved a man's life by bearing the weight of a crashed car which was dangerously leaking fuel has been given a national award.

PC Andrew Dear, of Warwickshire Police, was named the overall winner at the Police Bravery Awards, in London.

PC Dear squeezed into a 10in (25.4cm) gap to maintain the airway of the injured man and reassure him after he was first on the crash scene on the A5.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid described his bravery as "truly extraordinary".

He was also among eight regional winners at the Police Federation of England and Wales' event.

The federation heard PC Dear found the man trapped under the roof of the car which had been ripped in half and was leaking fuel and risked bursting into flames.

The man was badly bleeding and drifting in and out of consciousness and the officer supported him until paramedics arrived.

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PC Dear said he had thought about the injured man's family at the time of the rescue.

The officer was able to crawl into a 10in gap and speak to the injured man

"Knowing what his family would probably be thinking had he not made it - knowing somebody was there with him when he was injured, trapped - that means everything," he said.

The regional winners included PC Ian Sweeney and his dog Logan, from Humberside Police who were the North East's winners. The pair caught a stabbing suspect despite him repeatedly shooting them with a gas-powered pellet gun.

In the South West, PC Agata Makowska, of Devon and Cornwall Police, was awarded for rescuing an unconscious man from a fire.

Before the ceremony, the award nominees attended a Downing Street reception where Prime Minister Theresa May praised officers' "everyday acts of heroism" and thanked them for their service.