Carcass protest police are 'bravest'

The police van was "flattened" by the bulldozer

An officer from Dyfed Powys Police and three from the neighbouring South Wales force have been named as the bravest officers in Wales.

West Wales-based Inspector Ian Rees together with PCs James McAvoy, David Thomas and Martin Treacy from South Wales Police, received an unusual joint commendation at the annual Police Bravery Awards.

The bulldozer driver was later jailed

The four shared the prestigious accolade for their efforts as public emotion escalated during last year's foot-and-mouth crisis.

They risked being crushed under a 50-ton bulldozer as they attempted to stop its driver mowing down colleagues and protestors at the Epynt army range in Powys, mid Wales.

The incident happened in April 2001, after the site was identified as a disposal site for infected carcasses.

The officers smashed the bulldozer cab windows to spray the driver with CS gas as the machine crushed a van in which a South Wales police officer was trapped.

Inspector Rees said: "I thought the officer was dead as his screams of terror weakened and then ceased.

The actions of all the officers deserve the highest praise

Police Federation chair Fred Broughton

"I was sickened. I thought this madman was going to kill more people."

Miraculously, the police driver was not killed. PC McAvoy removed fuses from the vehicle to prevent a fire.

He then talked to and reassured the trapped occupant while the fire service took two hours to cut him free from the wreckage.

As the bulldozer continued on its path, the other officers ran down the hill shouting to protestors and colleagues to get out of the machine's path which smashed through two hedges and crashed in a field.

Ian Rees was one of those honoured

The driver of the bulldozer - farm worker Stephen Morgan, 28, from Llandovery - was cleared of attempted murder at Swansea Crown Court last December.

But he was jailed for three years after being found guilty of taking the vehicle and driving it without regard for human life, endangering the life of a police officer.

Fred Broughton OBE, Chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales and one of the Police Bravery Awards judges, said: "The actions of all the officers deserve the highest praise.

"They displayed remarkable courage and tenacity to prevent members of the public and colleagues being hurt."

Fellow judge David Yelland, who is editor of The Sun, said: "The officers all showed extraordinary devotion to duty and courage and we are delighted to recognise their bravery."