TWO police officers who saved a man's life after he started to drown and sank to the bottom of a lake are to receive a bravery award.

Colin Ward was plucked unconscious from Derwentwater in the Lake District after he got into difficulty while swimming last July.

And the Royal Humane Society has awarded his rescuers, Sergeant Alan Weightman and Police Constable Richard Bowman one of their highest award. Mr Ward, 30, of Taylor Close, Blackburn, was on a camping trip with seven other adults and five children and they had hired a boat for the day. When the boat drifted into the lake he volunteered to swim out and recover it but soon got into trouble and disappeared. One of the group made an unsuccessful attempt to find him before the police were called. Both officers entered the water and Sgt Weightman made several dives while his colleague searched closer to the shore. PC Bowman eventually swam out and recovered a rowing boat and the officers used this to conduct a systematic search.

By this time it was dark and the officers used a torch to shine into the water.

They found Mr Ward on the bottom of the lake, in three metres of water, and Sgt Weightman again dived in and pulled him to the surface.

Mr Ward was resuscitated by a doctor and paramedics and taken to Cumbria Infirmary.

He was transferred to a hospital in Greater Manchester in mid-September.

Major general Christopher Tyler, secretary of the Royal Humane Society, praised the two officers for their courage and ingenuity.

"It is quite remarkable that in the black of night the officers could find this man using only a torch," he said. "It was a truly remarkable rescue and undoubtedly this man owes his life to their resourcefulness and persistence. Minutes more could have proved fatal."

The officers were nominated for their award by the Chief Constable of Cumbria Police.