A COUPLE who chased a suspected burglar after he evaded the police have been honoured for showing ‘‘bravery, personal responsibility and putting themselves in harm’s way”.

Karen and Stuart Andrews tried to catch a man suspected of ditching a stolen car in Amesbury after a cross-border pursuit that started in Basingstoke.

The driver crashed into parked cars as he sped along Salisbury Road in a red Peugeot, almost hitting pedestrians.

He then abandoned the car on a footpath between The Drove and Holders Road, before running off.

Police scrambled a helicopter to track him down, but it was Mrs Andrews, who works at Bodyworks Fitness Studio in Amesbury, who chased the suspect until he scaled a neighbour’s fence.

Mrs Andrews said: “I was walking home from work when I saw the car come onto our road, he almost knocked me off the pavement.

“Understandably I was very angry at what occurred, so when my neighbour contacted me to say that a man walking down the road was the driver of the car, I went looking for him. I saw him, and gave him a mouthful, he then started to run off and I followed him.

“It was only when he jumped over a tall fence that I thought to myself, I’m a 48-year-old woman and shouldn’t be doing this. But I did what I felt was right and I’m proud of it.”

She added that “anyone would have done the same”.

Mr Andrews, a Metropolitan Police officer, continued looking for the man, but he was unable to find him.

The police later caught the 33-year-old in the grounds of Stonehenge School after Mrs Andrews guided them to where he was last seen.

He was arrested on suspicion of burglary, aggravated joy-riding, drug-driving, and dangerous driving.

Wiltshire Police Superintendent Sue Austin said without the couple’s help, there was a good chance that the suspect would not have been caught.

She added that she had written to Mr Andrews’ boss in the Met highlighting his good work.

Stonehenge School was placed into a lockdown during the incident on July 4.