Farmer who has saved a man's life, stopped a raging bull and fought organised crime marks 35 years as a Northumbria Police Special Constable

Michael Scott has served more than 35 years as a Northumbria Special Constable

Special Constable Michael Scott, 58, volunteered 1,361 hours as a Northumbria Police volunteer this past year .

“I volunteer but for me I still see it as my career. I joined because I wanted to help people and the joy I get from that can’t be measured,” he said.

Whether it is tackling disorder, stopping a raging bull running into a crowd at a County Show, escorting Santa, delivering calves or finding missing people - Michael is always on hand to help.

In 1996 he was awarded a Chief Constable Commendation for saving the life of a 20-year-old man who had overturned his car and was trapped inside, slipping in-and-out of consciousness.

Michael sat with him in the car for over two hours to keep him awake, despite the fact the car could have slipped into the Tyne at any moment.

“You don’t think about what could happen to you, you have a job to do and you just do it. When people need your help, they come first,” he said.

When asked about some of his toughest shifts Michael talked about Storm Desmond and working almost non-stop for three days to make sure people were safe and had food and clean water.

His saddest shift came with the death of colleague PC Joe Carroll in 2006, who died after a prisoner pulled on the handbrake of the car they were in.

“I’ll never forget that day or the moment I found out,” he said.

“Things like that really bring home the dangers of this line of work, I have my own family and I’m lucky enough to be a Grandad, and I do think about them when out on the job. But they also make me realise how important the work we do is.”

Michael, who received the Pride in Policing Volunteer of the Year award for his in 2017, said he couldn’t imagine himself working outside the rural area.

Northumbria Chief Constable Winton Keenen said: “The Contribution of Michael and our other volunteers is genuinely outstanding and something quite frankly, we couldn’t do without.”