Eagle-eyed girls get award from police

Two teenage Shropshire girls who alerted police to a stolen tractor worth £60,000 and a postman who helped officers trace an armed robber are among those who have been praised at an awards ceremony.

At Monday night's West Mercia Police Commendation evening, which was held at Shrewsbury's Prostar Stadium, members of the public and police officers were singled out for praise for their efforts.

To see the winners click here

Rachel Hutton and Becky Leach, both 13 and from Newport, were presented with a certificate of thanks for carrying out their own detective work.

The girls were out for a walk in Newport when they spotted a tractor in a field.

Rachel had read in the previous night's Shropshire Star that a tractor worth £60,000 and equipment fitted to it worth £20,000 had been stolen so she put the registration number in her mobile phone, went home and checked the newspaper. On seeing that it was the same tractor she contacted the police and then directed them to the field when they arrived.

Chief inspector Jason Wells said: "Rachel and Becky deserve a big thank you for some excellent detective work.

"These two girls greatly assisted our inquiries into this crime. I know their families are justifiably very proud of what they did."

Also receiving a commendation was Shropshire postman Simon Harrison, 34, of Wem. Mr Harrison was doing his round in November 2007 when he noted a van which had no number plate and later on it did.

He wrote down the registration number and the following day when he heard there had been an armed robbery at Loppington Post Office he passed the number on to police and the offender was traced.

Sergeant Julian Hinds, of Wem police, said a masked man had threatened a female member of staff in the shop with a handgun before making off with £750. The offender, a 30-year-old man, was arrested and jailed for six years after appearing at Shrewsbury Crown Court.

Also given civilian commendations were a husband and wife team from north Shropshire who played a major role in a safety project which has helped thousands of schoolchildren.

Former police inspector Greg Watson and his wife Ann were chairman and treasurer of North Shropshire Safety Scene since it was launched in 1998.

By Emma Kasprzak