TWO police officers will be honoured next week at a national bravery awards ceremony.

Sergeant Sue Robinson and PC Gary Coulson, of Durham Police, are among 45 officers from England and Wales whose bravery earned them nomination for awards.

The ceremony, to be held at The Dorchester, in London, next Thursday, will be attended by Home Secretary David Blunkett and will follow a reception at Downing Street, hosted by the Prime Minister.

The two officers were nominated when they saved a man as he threatened to jump 60ft from a road bridge at Spennymoor, County Durham.

They were left bruised and lucky to be alive when they grabbed an arm each and took the full force of the man's weight as he dangled on the outside of the railings.

The drama unfolded last August when Sgt Robinson found the man, in his 30s, threatening to take his life.

She approached to within five feet as he told her he had taken a large overdose of tablets. He then started to tear at stitches from a previous slashed wrist injury.

Sgt Robinson was joined by PC Coulson and together they tried to calm him down.

When the man's mobile phone rang, Sgt Robinson asked if she could reach into his pocket and turn it off. When he agreed, the pair grabbed him.

"We just exchanged a glance and grabbed him. At one stage we were holding his full weight and I screamed at a colleague to cuff him to the railings to help take the strain," said 42-year-old PC Coulson.

Durham's Assistant Chief Constable, Gary Bennett, said: "They took decisive action with no thought for themselves and saved a man from serious injury or death."