A BARNOLDSWICK police officer and his wife who saved the life of a disabled man have been honoured for their quick thinking.

PC Mark Hyde, 44, and Susan Hyde, 36, were standing listening to a rally against the proposed closure of Cravenside Home for the Elderly, in Barnoldswick Town Square, when they noticed that 66-year-old Ernest Turner, who is paralysed from the neck down, was choking.

Between them they managed to administer first aid and dislodge the piece of food he had been eating enabling him to breathe again.

Their actions were praised by Sergeant Chris Saville, at Barnoldswick Station, who recommended that they be commended.

They were each awarded with a framed letter of commendation from the Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society by the Mayor of Burnley, Coun Gordon Birtwistle, at a special presentation ceremony.

Mr Turner's wife, Angela, thanked the couple and said without their help her husband would have been dead.

Mrs Turner, 50, of the Turf Moor area of Burnley, said: "I normally supervise his eating. He was eating a pork pie and I had my grandson with me and took my eyes off him for one second and he started choking. It all happened in a matter of minutes.

"He had a sore throat afterwards for a few weeks, but he was only in hospital for a few hours. I have still got my husband thanks to Susan and Mark. Words aren't enough to express my thanks. If I had a wish it would be for them to win the Lottery."

The incident happened at 10.40am on Saturday, April 13, when PC Hyde was on duty policing the demonstration of around 250 people.

Mr Turner, of St Andrew's House Disabled Unit in Barnoldswick, was sitting nearby in his specially adapted wheelchair when he started to have difficulty breathing.

Mrs Hyde, a trained paramedic with West Yorkshire Metropolitan Ambulance Service, said: "He was very poorly. He was choking and looking quite blue and his eyes were bulging. It would have been close if we hadn't been there.

"When I got there Mark had already started to do first aid. It was quite difficult because Mr Turner has had a stroke and is in a wheelchair. We both tried the Heimlich manoeuvre and Mark managed to dislodge the food, and I did a finger sweep of his mouth to remove it."

Sgt Saville, who had been with PC Hyde and called for an ambulance, said: "The ambulance which had been summoned appeared a short time later, but I fear that without the prompt action of PC Hyde and his wife that Mr Turner would have asphyxiated. I am in no doubt that their actions saved his life."