TWO heroic Dudley police officers prevented a major road pile up by chasing a stolen runaway HGV lorry,which was careering down the wrong side of a dual carriageway into on-coming traffic.

Pcs Paul Bedworth and Steven Hill were on patrol when they noticed a silver BMW following a HGV articulated lorry cab.

Noticing something suspicious, the officers ran checks on the BMW and found it was using false registration plates.

The car went off at speed in a different direction to the lorry, goading the officers to follow it. But realising this was a decoy, the pair decided to follow the lorry instead.

The lorry,worth more than £40,000, travelled steadily down the Black Country Route towards Bilston but then suddenly did a sharp U-turn and started heading up the other side of the carriageway, travelling at speed towards on-coming traffic.

Turning the police car around, the officers noticed the BMW reappear, then to their horror watched the lorry slow down and the cab doors fly open.

Two occupants jumped out and into the BMW, which sped off, while the empty lorry carried on careering down the road.

Quick thinking Pc Bedworth, 31, started running down the middle of the carriageway, chasing the runaway lorry, while Pc Hill, 29, ran in the opposite direction to stop the oncoming traffic, who were oblivious to the unfolding drama.

Managing to catch up with the lorry,which was picking up speed as it travelled downhill, Pc Bedworth jumped in through the open door and grabbed the handbrake, bringing the lorry to a standstill.

At a ceremony on Tuesday night, the two officers, based at Dudley Police Station, were presented with Commander Commendation awards for their extreme bravery and professionalism during the early hours incident on April 8, 2008.

The event at Himley Hall honoured 53 officers from the J1 Division, which covers Dudley North.

Alongside the officers were also 11 members of public who were given Good Citizen awards for their courage.

Speaking about the incident, Pc Bedworth said: “With hindsight, there are a lot of ‘what if ’s’ about what we did. It was a split-second decision.

“We weren’t in our high visibility clothes, so we weren’t very noticeable to on-coming traffic.”

Pc Hill said: “But we would do the same again. We are here to protect and serve the public. We were just doing our job."