Hero officer uses patrol car to block Burway van fall

A policeman was today hailed as a hero after he used his patrol car in order to stop a van sliding over the edge of a Shropshire beauty spot.

Constable Damon Preston leapt into action after a driver ignored road closed signs at the Burway in the Carding Mill Valley, on Saturday.

The road near Church Stretton was covered in ice and impassable.

Police today said the van hit ice and began to slide uncontrollably at about noon. The motorist's terrified daughter leapt from the vehicle as her father approached the road's edge.

He stayed in the vehicle and managed to halt the van by keeping the brake pedal rammed against the floor.

Mr Preston was first on the scene after the panicked driver called for help.

He wedged the patrol vehicle between the van and the drop just as the Transit again began to slide. The van hit Mr Preston's car before coming to a halt.

Sergeant Adrian Woolley said: "PC Preston's actions may have prevented serious injury or even death.

"After his intervention the fire service attended safely recovered the vehicle into a lay-by."

Firefighters from Church Stretton used shovels and salt to free the vehicle.

The father has been reprimanded by the police for ignoring the road sign.