Two police officers have won a bravery award after a perfectly timed collision brought a car travelling on the wrong side of the road to a stop on the M4.

At 3am on Christmas Day 2020, police were notified of a car travelling the wrong way on the M4.

Thames Valley officers PC Mark Martin-Dye and PC Callum Bushell headed towards the incident with their blue lights on.

Once on the motorway, they drove down lane two and saw a car heading towards them in lane three.

PC Martin-Dye, who was driving the police car, slowed down and activated the sirens.

He moved the police car slightly towards lane three to encourage the other car to stop, but there was no obvious reaction from the driver.

PC Martin-Dye decided to make tactical contact with the offending vehicle to bring it to a stop by driving at the vehicle.

Timing his driving, he drove towards the offending vehicle and let it pass to his offside, then turned in to make contact with the rear offside of the vehicle.

The two vehicles collided, causing the offending vehicle to travel approximately 50m before coming to a stop in lane one, facing the wrong way.

The police car sustained 'serious damage' to its front wheel, but was manoeuvred behind the offending vehicle to provide cover from oncoming traffic.

Although the speed of the offending car was over 50mph at the point of impact, the angle was acute and, as a result, no injuries occurred to any party.

PC Bushell extracted the driver from the offending vehicle, while PC Martin-Dye closed off lanes one and two. Several other units attended to assist.

The offending driver blew zero in a breath test and provided a negative drug wipe, but she displayed erratic and confused behaviour.

She was later detained under the Mental Health Act and admitted to hospital.

Both officers have now been awarded a Thames Valley Police Federation Bravery Award.

PC Martin-Dye said: “I’m just really pleased that no one was hurt, at the end of the day.

"The tactic worked about as well as it could have done. It helps that we have training – not at that sort of speed and not head-on, but it’s not the first time I’ve used tactical contact.

"I realised later how dangerous the situation was.

"I was delighted to be nominated for this award, it’s really nice to be appreciated.”

PC Bushell added: “In that kind of situation you’re a pair and you have to rely on each other.

"Once I had time to digest everything, I realised that things could have gone another way.

"It was Christmas Day, I had two young kids and Mark’s got family as well. But had we not done that, a member of the public could well have had their family’s Christmas turned upside down."

Thames Valley Police Federation Chair Craig O’Leary said: “This is breathtaking bravery… the work of these two brilliant officers cannot be overstated. Viewing the video footage, it is clear that this was an exceptional piece of driving by Mark, ably supported by Callum.

“Their professionalism and courage brought this incident to a safe conclusion.

PC Martin-Dye and PC Bushell will attend the 2023 Thames Valley Police Federation Bravery Awards on April 27.

At the event, a winner will be announced who will travel to London for the National Police Federation Bravery Awards in July.