Two local police officers have been hailed as heroes after fighting to keep a 16-year-old boy alive after he fell from a bridge in Harpenden.

The horrific incident happened in at around 6am on September 1 last year in Ox Lane, Harpenden.

The teenager had received horrific injuries to his head, wrists, elbow, pelvis and spine and was also suffering from failed kidneys, liver and collapsed lungs.

First on the scene was PC Matthew Haywood, who immediately applied dressings to the head wound while at the same time asking members of the public who had arrived at the scene to help.

When PC Alexandra Corr arrived she called the ambulance control centre and kept in contact with them to relay their instructions on treatment to PC Haywood.

When the youth was sick she ensured his airways were clear and put him in the recovery position.

Now both officers have been praised for saving the boy's life and have been awarded Royal Humane Society Certificates of Commendation.

They were also contacted by the youth’s mother, who thanked them for saving her son’s life, and they later visited both the mother and son to check how the youth was getting on.

Praising their actions, Andrew Chapman, Secretary of the Royal Humane Society said: “They were true life-saving heroes and richly deserve the awards they are to receive.

“This youth’s injuries were horrific and he is very luck to have survived them. But for the treatment he received at the scene it is very likely he would not have survived.”