TWO Abingdon police officers put their lives on the line to prevent a drunk driver from causing untold carnage after he drove up he M4 the wrong way.

PC Matthew Robson and PC Matthew Hunt had to use their police car to ram the driver’s vehicle to stop it – as he careered up the motorway at speeds over 60mph towards oncoming traffic.

The officers were on a nightshift in December 2018 when a call came in reporting a vehicle had stopped on the M4.

As the pair were deployed they received updates through the radio to say the driver of the vehicle was now driving against traffic on the carriageway.

The officers joined the motorway and implemented a 'rolling road' tactic to keep traffic safely behind them.

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But by now more updates were coming in to say the driver was heading right for them, so they put their blue lights on and kept traffic at bay.

After a few minutes the driver approached them with his headlights on from around a slight bend – but he was not deterred and instead decided to speed up.

The duo made the decision to ram his vehicle with theirs and and as they did this the van came to an abrupt halt and span off the motorway.

The police car was also damaged but incredibly the driver, who was drunk, appeared unfazed and attempted to restart his van and drive off.

He even tried to 'citizens arrest' PC Hunt when the team approached him, but after he had calmed down he was put in handcuffs and the road reopened to traffic.

PC Hunt said it was 'fortunate' that the incident ended with no fatalities or serious injuries.

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He added: “When they come towards you you hope, and you assume, because they normally do, they’re going to stop, but he didn’t stop. He’s still coming towards us and his speed is mirroring that on the opposite carriageway so 70-80 miles an hour.

“It was fast enough for it to be worrying. It became apparent he wasn’t going to stop, and we had a very small window of how we’re going to deal with it.

“We are trained specifically for this scenario, so we knew what to do. Fortunately, it all worked out quite nicely, but I’ve been doing this job for 19 years and I’ve never been scared in it but I’m not too ashamed to say I was.”

PC Robson added: "At the end of the day we are the police if we don't step out and do things like this, then who will?"

Both of the officers will go to the Thames Valley Police Federation bravery awards on March 5, where the winner will be announced.