A police officer who stopped a man in Bromley from setting himself on fire has been nominated for a bravery award.

PC Jamie Plumer, a dog handler for the Met Taskforce, was called to the scene where he was confronted by a man pouring petrol over himself with one hand and wielding a dagger in the other.

Plumer, who is based out of Catford with the south east dog unit, was with the police dog Bear during the incident in Brandbourne Road in Downham on March 22.

There were two women at the address where the knife-wielding, petrol covered man was and Plumer needed to act quickly.

Plumer, who has been with the police for ten years, said: “When I first arrived there was petrol everywhere and broken glass all over the floor so clearly it wasn’t the right situation to put Bear into. Also the man was clearly suffering from a distressed state.

“As I went in there he continued to chuck petrol over members of the family, the address and himself whilst stabbing the windows with a knife.

“My thoughts at the time were to get in there quickly. There were still members of the family in there - I needed to get and help them.

“If I didn’t act the people at the address would have been in danger so it was either I did something or they would have been harmed.”

An officer with a taser shortly arrived at the scene but Plumer prevented the officer from using the taser as if he had there was a good chance the man would burst into flames.

At this point, the man involved made his way into the garden where he began stabbing a tree.

Plumer’s attempts to communicate with him had failed so he then tackled the man from behind and restrained him until backup arrived.

The man was subsequently sectioned under the mental health act and given professional mental health care.

Plumer is up for an Outstanding Bravery of the Year award with the Met Police, where he is competing with two Islington officers who grabbed a man wearing a suspected suicide vest.

The other police up for the award including Southwark officer who entered an inferno top rescue ten people, and two Hillingdon PCs who entered a burning building to rescue an unconscious woman.

Commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, said: “We have some outstanding candidates for this year's bravery award. All would make very worthy winners.

“Such remarkable acts of professionalism and selfless acts of bravery are often carried out in the Metropolitan Police Service, but rarely remarked upon.

“These awards give us the opportunity to recognise and celebrate the courage of some of our officers, in saving lives and tackling armed and dangerous criminals.”

The full details of each super nomination can be found on the official MPS voting page www.met.police.uk/bravery-awards where you can also watch a personal video about each act of bravery and you can vote for the winner.