A MAN who sparked a Police Academy-style rescue mission has been jailed for making threats to kill.

Traffic police used to high-performance patrol vehicles commandeered a slightly slower mode of transport to help end the armed stand-off.

Durham traffic officers Steve Heiniger and Dave Oliver were called as back-up when a drunken man threatened an angler with fishing forceps on the riverbank in Chester-le-Street.

While colleagues in Riverside Park tried to calm the man, PCs Oliver and Heiniger aimed to approach from the opposite bank, via nearby Chester-le-Street Golf Club.

Unable to reach the River Wear by patrol car, they parked and borrowed a golf buggy, with some on-the-spot driving tips from the club professional, to complete the last half-mile of their journey across the fairways.

Officers at the scene distracted the man, allowing the 31-year-old angler to flee to safety.

The assailant, who had earlier slashed at his arms with razor blades, then jumped into the river, threatening further self-harm.

PCs Heiniger, Oliver and colleagues Andy Guest and Mike Kirtley waded into the river and formed a human chain to rescue the struggling man.

PC Heiniger said: "After rescuing him we had to take him back to the car in the buggy with the other three officers restraining him and me driving. It is the most bizarre thing I've ever had to do in 23 years in the force."

The man at the centre of the 90-minute drama appeared at Durham Crown Court on Friday.

Philip George Brown, 21, of East Bridge Street, Mount Pleasant, near Penshaw, Wearside, was jailed for a year after admitting making threats to kill.

The court heard he suffered from a borderline personality disorder, exacerbated by alcohol.

On the day of the incident Brown had been drinking before the alert was raised by shop staff after he bought razor blades and threatened to harm himself.