A  CHESHIRE Police officer has been commended after dragging an unresponsive driver from a car which burst into flames moments later.

In the early hours of Saturday, September 28, Police Constable Mark Jones, of the Constabulary's Roads and Crime Unit (RCU), was driving home from work after a night shift.

While on his way home, PC Jones came across a black Seat on the A543 near Congleton that had left the carriageway and collided with a tree - sustaining considerable damage.

Without a second thought for his own personal safety, PC Jones turned his car around and approached the Seat, which at this point had begun heavily smoking, and found a 49-year-old man unresponsive behind the wheel.

With more and more smoke flowing out of the vehicle, PC Jones forced entry and removed the driver, before pulling him to safety some 50 feet away, just as the car burst into flames.

Again, selflessly and at great risk to himself, PC Jones ran back to the now burning vehicle to conduct one last search for any potentially trapped or unconscious passengers.

Luckily no one was inside.

Thanks to PC Jones' intervention, the driver of the Seat was spared from, what would have been, a horrific situation that they would not have been able to save themselves from.

Following PC Jones' heroics, the driver was taken to Leighton Hospital, and is expected to make a full recovery.

Police Constable Mark Jones is based in Congleton and has been with the Constabulary for around nine years, and his actions that night have subsequently been praised by colleagues across the Constabulary.

Inspector Alex Cairns, said: "The actions of PC Jones undoubtedly saved the male’s life and showed great courage and professionalism."

Police Constable Mark Jones, of the Roads and Crime Unit, said: "I had seen the vehicle had crashed into a tree, but by the time I turned around and got out of my car, its engine bay was on fire and the smoke was horrendous.

"I'm so glad that this story concluded with a positive outcome as the potentiality of what could have happened does not bare thinking about.

"When you have been a police officer for a prolonged period of time, you come to realise that you are never, truly, off the clock and my decision to, quite literally, run towards the fire was all part of the "do the right thing" mindset that has been instilled within me during my years serving within Cheshire Constabulary alongside my fellow officers.

"I would like to thank my colleagues and the wider force in general for helping me develop that attitude and act upon the right instincts such as those that made me stop to help in the first place."