A QUICK-THINKING policewoman poured water down the throat of a four-year-old boy in a desperate bid to stop him from choking to death.

And the actions by PC April Stephenson dislodged a toffee which had become wedged in the throat of young Max Mills.

Now the 32-year-old policewoman, who has shrugged off her heorics, has been praised by local police chiefs.

The drama began when PC Stephenson, herself a mother-of-two, was making routine inquiries at a house in Grundy Avenue, Prestwich, where Max and his mother, Anne, live.

Inspector Karen Pinder said: "Max was turning blue and was falling into unconsciousness when April arrived." The policewoman first tried the conventional method of pushing the boy's stomach and patting his back. But when this failed, she poured water down the youngster's throat and simultaneously manipulated the trapped sweet from outside the windpipe.

PC Stephenson's director supervisor, Sergeant Michael Kennedy, said: "The sweet was pushed up a little at a time until it was sufficiently dislodged for the regular techniques to work.

"Instead of persisting with the old techniques that weren't working, she improvised and the end result was a wonderful one."

However, a modest PC Stephenson, who has been in the force for eight years, declined to discuss her life-saving actions.

All police officers are trained in First Aid up to Red Cross standard and they must undergo a refresher training course every three years.

Sgt Kennedy went on: "She shrugs it off as one of these things. She was a little bit blase about it.

"But from an independent perspective, and certainly from the mother's perspective, she potentially saved the child's life.

"I think it's nice that sometimes we can do things other than those which the public perceive of us. She did a wonderful job and I'm very proud of her."