A Suffolk police officer has been nominated for a national award for bravery, after he pulled a drunken man from a busy dual carriageway.

PC Chris Clark was described as showing "cool-headed professionalism" as he dragged the man to safety.

The officer was called to a broken down vehicle on the A14 shortly before 9pm on June 19, 2020, and upon arrival, he encountered an intoxicated man sitting on the vehicle's bonnet.

As PC Clark was carrying out routine checks, the man glanced towards the dual carriageway before running into it.

PC Clark pursued the man into the traffic and managed to pull him back to the hard shoulder. The man resisted, and both nearly ended up in the lanes of heavy traffic, but PC Clark managed to keep them from entering the road.

He then restrained the man for more than 11 minutes by the side of the busy road while waiting for reinforcements.

PC Clark has now been nominated for the Police Federation's Bravery Awards 2021.

Darren Harris, the Suffolk Police Federation chair, said: “Having studied PC Clark’s body-worn video footage, I can only describe this incident as horrific.

“With little concern for his own personal safety, PC Clark made sure this man was kept from harm until his colleagues were on the scene.

“It must have seemed like an eternity but he showed cool-headed professionalism throughout an extremely stressful situation and has rightly been commended for his actions.”

PC Clark is based at Suffolk Constabulary Force Headquarters on Martlesham Heath, and has served with the force over a career of 14 years.

For this incident he has also received an award from the Royal Humane Society.

The inebriated man was tried and found guilty of being drunk and disorderly, and of committing common assault on an emergency services worker.

PC Chris Clark will join other nominees from across England and Wales at the Police Federation of England and Wales Awards, to be held in London this December.