Two Barrow police officers who put their lives on the line to save a suicidal woman from drowning have been awarded top national bravery honours and have been hailed as 'heroes'

When emergency services received a call that the woman had gone missing PCs Michael Bolton and Glenn Myerscough were among the officers sent out with other emergency services to look for her.

After three hours searching local lakes and pools PCs Bolton and Myerscough reached Blacks Pond near Askam where they initially saw nothing. Then, just as they were turning to leave, they spotted an object in the water about 20ft from the bank.

And when they took a closer look they realised it was a woman who had an arm draped over a tree branch. It was not clear whether she was injured or unconscious but they took off their body armour and other heavy equipment and went into the water to try and reach her.

However, when he was just five feet out PC Myerscough stepped into unexpectedly deep water and went under. When he resurfaced PC Bolton grabbed him and then the two of them swam out to the woman, who was unresponsive and unable to support herself. They disentangled her from the branch and then fought to swim back to the bank with her.

They were not sure as they fought to get her back to the bank that she was the person they were searching for but once on dry land they confirmed that she was. She was conscious and breathing but totally unresponsive but was then taken to hospital suffering from hypothermia.

Now PCs Myerscough and Bolton have been awarded Royal Humane Society Testimonials on Vellum for the risks they took in going into the deep lake and fighting to get the woman to safety.

Andrew Chapman, Secretary of the Society said he considered they were 'true heroes'.

“Without a shadow of doubt the woman would have drowned if they had not found her when they did,” he said. “They’d been searching for three hours and it was only by chance at the last moment as they were about to leave that thankfully they spotted her.

“Then they risked their own lives in the very deep water of the pond and managed with difficulty to get her back to the bank and safety. They were true heroes and richly deserve the awards they are to receive.”

The roots of the Royal Humane Society stretch back nearly 250 years. Other than awards made by the Crown it is the premier national body for honouring bravery in the saving of human life.

It was founded in 1774 by two of the day's eminent medical men, William Hawes and Thomas Cogan. Their primary motive was to promote techniques of resuscitation.

However, as it emerged that numerous people were prepared to put their own lives at risk to save others, the awards scheme evolved, and today a variety of awards are made depending on the bravery involved.

The Society also awards non-health care professionals who perform a successful resuscitation. Since it was set up the Society has considered over 90,000 cases and made over 220,000 awards. The Society is a registered charity which receives no public funding and is dependent on voluntary donations.