OUTSIDE a police station might not seem the best location to crash into a stationary vehicle.

However, it turned out to be a life-saver for an elderly driver who did just that, outside Cwmbran police station.

PCs Thomas Price and Jacob Silver rushed out to investigate and found the driver, who appeared to have suffered a medical episode still at the wheel.

Then, as they chatted to him he suffered a heart attack, collapsed and stopped breathing.

PC Silver immediately began administering CPR while PC Price fetched a defibrillator and oxygen from the police station.

The defibrillator recommended continuing with CPR, rather than shocking the man.

After fitting nasal airways to ensure the man could breathe, the two officers continued with CPR for 15 minutes until an ambulance arrived.

Thanks to their instant treatment he survived.

Now, both officers have been awarded top national life-saving honours, Royal Humane Society Resuscitation Certificates.

Praising them for their action, Andrew Chapman, secretary of the Royal Humane Society said: “The two officers did a superb job. It’s essential that CPR is started as soon as possible and in this case it was started immediately after the man collapsed.

“It could have been a different story if the crash had been in a different location and there was a delay in beginning CPR. Thanks to the swift action of PCs Price and Silver though the man survived.

“At the same time this is yet another of the cases we see which emphasise the value of as many people as possible, not just emergency services, learning how to administer CPR.”

The roots of the Royal Humane Society was founded in 1774 by two of the day's eminent medical men, William Hawes and Thomas Cogan.