TWO woman PCs who stared down the barrel of a shotgun have just missed out on a top bravery award.

Constables Helen Johnston, 34, and Lesley Burt, 30, both based in Stanley, were shortlisted for their bravery in the face of a gun-toting husband who terrorised his estranged wife on Millennium night.

The two officers from the County Durham force were nominated for the Police Bravery Awards held at the Savoy Hotel in London last week.

Their night of drama started when they were called to a domestic incident at the Stanley home of a woman who was being terrorised by her ex-husband.

The 35-year-old man had broken into her house armed with a shotgun and was threatening to kill her.

As the pair arrived at the scene the woman ran out of the house screaming hysterically, running towards their patrol car. The man, still brandishing the shotgun, chased after her, and as she tried to get in the car, pulled her away and pointed the weapon at the officers inside.

But when PC Johnston got out of the car and told him to put the gun down, he held his wife with one hand, loaded cartridges into the gun with the other and pointed it at her inches from her chest.

After levelling the gun at her colleague, the enraged gunman dragged his wife down a nearby dirt track in pitch darkness.

In spite of his threat that they shouldn't follow him, they did, only to be confronted with him again when he leapt out of the gloom and pointed the gun at them again.

Once police backup arrived he fled with his wife to a nearby derelict school before eventually giving himself up after a two-hour siege.

During the trial at Newcastle Crown Court where the man was sentenced to five years for making threats to kill, false imprisonment and possession of a firearm, both officers were praised by the judge.

Sgt Terry Corrigan, chair of Durham Police Federation, said: "They showed tremendous courage in a situation that they never could have expected."

The title of bravest officer in the region was awarded at the Savoy ceremony to PC Keith Stonley, from Newton Aycliffe, who rescued a suicidal man who threatened to jump off a bridge.

PC Stonley, who works for the West Yorkshire force, climbed on to the outside of the bridge, balancing on a two-inch-wide ledge to stop the man from jumping.

He said: "I held on to him and eventually my colleagues came and pulled him over the railings. I have to admit it was a bit iffy as one point."