THE driver of a motorhome, who is believed to have had a heart attack at the wheel in a busy town centre, was in a critical condition last night.

The motorhome, being driven by a man in his 70s, left the road and came to a standstill on a grass verge in Burn Lane, near the Tesco store in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, on Boxing Day morning.

PC Andy Wells, 24, and PC Helen Naylor, 29, from Newton Aycliffe police station, attended the incident after it was reported to police by staff at the Tesco filling station.

With the help of former ambulance driver David Gibson, who lives locally, they pulled the man from the vehicle and performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation until an ambulance arrived.

The road was closed during the incident and the man, from Newton Aycliffe, was taken to Darlington Memorial Hospital.

Last night, staff in the intensive care unit said he remained in a critical condition.

Sergeant Ed Turner, of Newton Aycliffe police station, praised the actions of PC Wells and PC Naylor, who are new to the force and are completing their two-year probationary period.

"I firmly believe that if they had not acted so quickly and done what they did, he would not be with us now," he said.

"Neither of them had ever experienced anything like this before, but they acted on instinct, I'm very proud of them."