THE bravery of three police officers who tried to rescue a man from the burning wreckage of his car in Tilbury has been recognised with a leading award.

The traumatic incident, which unfortunately ended in the death of the driver despite the efforts of officers, was played out in July 2018 when the car crashed near the Port of Tilbury, striking a tree and catching fire with the driver trapped inside.

Temporary Inspector Rebecca Lee, PC Larry Litchfield, and PC Scott Thomas attended the accident.After PC Litchfield attempted to extinguish the fire with his onboard fire extinguisher, he decided to flag down a tanker in order to use the larger extinguishers they carry.

T/Insp Lee and PC Thomas arrived and assisted PC Litchfield with his attempts to put out the increasing flames.

The officers made a number of attempts to try and rescue the driver but fortunately, they were unable to get close enough to the vehicle as it became too hot and dangerous. Despite the best efforts of all three officers, the driver died at the scene.

PC Litchfield says it was a bittersweet moment to be nominated for the award due to the ending, he also added: "I'm one of those that will just deal with whatever I've got in front of me and I'll just assess it when I get there.

"I've never come across a fire that close up before, and how powerful it was. You just feel a little bit helpless that you can't get this guy out. I stood in the carriageway, waving my arms, trying to stop a tanker from coming down and thinking that they've got a fire extinguisher and it would be quite a big one.

"I managed to get the tanker to stop. I went over to the car and tried to put the fire out. We still couldn't get close enough and the fire extinguisher still wasn't doing too much. We just couldn't get to him."

Essex Police Federation Chair Laura Heggie says that all the officers showed great courage in trying to save the man's life.

"It was a horrifying scene for these officers to come across, the car was absolutely engulfed in flames and they did all they could to try and save the man's life. Sadly, on this occasion there was not a better outcome," Laura continued.

"Police officers are much more than crime fighters and this trio were acting in the best traditions of Essex Police officers."

The awards have been delayed because of the Covid-19 pandemic but will take place this month. T/Insp Lee and PCs Litchfield and Thomas will attend the first-ever Essex Police Federation Bravery Awards – which will combine celebrating 2020 and 2021 winners. Overall winners for both years will be announced and they will go on to compete in the National Police Bravery Awards.