A HEROIC police officer was dragged along by a car while attempting to help a vulnerable person.

PC Hoskin-Day was part of a team out looking for a missing man in the Braintree district following concerns for his welfare.

The man was eventually found by another officer, PC Thorne, who was shortly joined by PC Hoskin-Day and PC Chatten, who are all members of the Braintree local policing team.

The missing man had locked himself inside a car and refused requests to unlock the doors.

He told the officers he had taken an overdose and moments later he tried to drive away.

PC Hoskin-Day attempted to reach through a small gap in an open window in an attempt to to grab the keys and steer the car away from oncoming traffic.

But the officer was dragged several metres along the road while hanging from the window before the car came to a stop.

With the driver still refusing to lock the doors, both PC Chatten and PC Thorne, who are only weeks out of training college, used their batons to smash the windows of the vehicle to detain the man, who was then taken to hospital for treatment.

Insp Tim Scott has praised his team for their work throughout the incident, which happened on Monday.

He described it is a “gruelling” experience.

He added: “I wanted to say a well done to three of my officers.

“Only hours later, after seeing her colleague dragged down the road by a car, PC Chatten had to attend a death in a public place and deal with the distraught family who were on scene.

“This just goes to show the challenges officers are faced with on a daily basis and I am tremendously proud at the resilience they show.