A volunteer police officer has been commended for bravery after arresting a violently struggling burglar, writes Jonathan Gunning.

Special Constable Barry Hughes, 35, refused to let the man go as he tried to make off with cash stolen from the home of an 88-year-old woman. He tussled with his captive for over five minutes before help arrived.

But Mr Hughes insisted: "I was only doing my job. I don't think anyone would have acted any differently."

He is based at Abingdon station and has been in the special constabulary for five years. He works at Didcot power station.

On May 11 he was patrolling with another officer in Five Mile Drive, north Oxford, when they spotted a van suspected of being involved in a number of burglaries.

The officers pulled the van over and arrested the two occupants. One tried desperately to escape but Mr Hughes was able to hang on to him.

The thief was jailed for four years for stealing a handbag containing hundreds of pounds from the pensioner.