Prime Minister honours police officer

Tony Blair and Michael Winner paid tribute to PC Jones

The Prime Minister has honoured a Bristol police officer who was killed in the line of duty.

Tony Blair visited the city to unveil a memorial to PC Stephen Jones.

PC Jones died while attempting to stop a hit-and-run driver on the M4 motorway near the Second Severn Crossing in 1999.

He was in many ways absolutely typical of the police officers who serve in the country but also remarkable

Prime Minister Tony Blair

The 34-year-old father-of-two was using a stinger device to try to stop the driver of a stolen car when he was hit.

During the ceremony at Severn View service station on the M48, close to the M4, the Prime Minister unveiled a circular stone plaque bearing the words "near here fell PC Stephen Jones".

Mr Blair said: "The purpose of today is to give thanks for the life of Stephen Jones, to celebrate the service that he represented and through him to send out the clearest possible signal that this is what the best of our police service represent.

"He was in many ways absolutely typical of the police officers who serve in the country but also remarkable.

"People are grateful for the work the police do. They honour them, value them and but for them our society would be less stable and less secure."

PC Jones died trying to stop a hit-and-run driver

PC Jones had served with the force for 11 years and became a traffic officer in April 1993.

His widow Heather Jones, 37, was at the ceremony with her two children Bronwen, nine, and Kieran, six.

Beforehand she told BBC Radio Bristol the incident had devastated their lives.

"I have two young children. That sort of shock you can't explain to people - it was horrendous," she said.

Film director Michael Winner, chairman of the Police Memorial Trust, also attended the ceremony.

He initiated a series of memorials to police officers following the death of PC Yvonne Fletcher, who died during the Libyan embassy crisis in 1984.

Policemen do give their lives in the course of their duty. Often it's not thought to be a dangerous job and it is

Heather Jones

Praising the traffic officer's bravery before placing flowers at the memorial, Mr Winner said PC Jones had died at "the sharp end of the rule of law.

"It means absolutely nothing without the young men and women on the beat. Take them away and the entire fabric of our society collapses."

Avon and Somerset Chief Constable Steve Pilkington said: "We trust the police to keep us safe and when they come to harm while protecting us, it is right we remember them.

"Stephen would have seen it as only doing a job, but what a job and what pride we have in those that do it."

Asked what her husband would have thought of the monument, Heather Jones said: "I'm sure he'd feel honoured.

"Policemen do give their lives in the course of their duty. Often it's not thought to be a dangerous job and it is."