TWO police officers who tackled a dangerous knifeman have been rewarded for their bravery by the Chief Constable.

PCs Andy Osbaldeston and Tony Ford, of the division's support unit based at Great Harwood, were commended after tackling a man brandishing a kitchen knife at a house in Blackburn.

And in a separate incident, PCs David Bower and Michael Young, from the armed response unit, were praised following a confrontation with a man claiming he had a loaded gun. PCs Osbaldeston and Ford were called to a house in Derby Street, Blackburn, in May last year.

When they arrived they found one man brandishing a knife and another wounded on the kitchen floor.

After chasing the man with the knife into the garden the two officers overpowered him after a struggle.

The man later appeared at Preston Crown Court where he was jailed for three years for grievous bodily harm.

Lancashire Constabulary's Chief Constable, Pauline Clare, said: "I was most impressed by the extreme courage these officers showed when they entered a property knowing there was a man inside brandishing a knife."

In the second incident PCs Bower and Young were called to Whalley New Road after a man called police saying he had a loaded gun.

Several times the man pointed the gun at the police before eventually surrendering. The gun was later found to be a replica loaded with blanks.

The man was later sentenced to two years probation at Burnley Crown Court for firearms offences.

Mrs Clare said: "The actions of these officers during this incident were of the highest professional standard. Had it not been dealt with in such an efficient manner the incident may well have ended in tragedy."