TWO police officers who tackled an armed killer in the centre of Abingdon have won national bravery awards.

Sgt Mark Allmond and PC Alex Quigley took down schizophrenic Trevor Joyce after he fatally stabbed Justin Skrebowski in Poundland on December 7, 2015.

Last night at a ceremony in London the pair were named as the South East winners at the National Police Bravery Awards.

Sgt Allmond, who was an off-duty PC at the time, was walking through town with his family when he became aware of the Joyce shouting and making threats.

He called for support and was able to divert the knifeman's aggression towards himself and away from the public.

PC Quigley then arrived at the scene in an unmarked car and the pair worked together on detaining Joyce.

The constable threatened to use her Taser and ordered Joyce to drop the knife, which he did. They were then able to tackle Joyce to the ground and place him in handcuffs.

This year there were 80 nominees from 40 forces, with eight regional awards.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid was among the guests at the event to honour officers who have performed outstanding acts of bravery.

Speaking about the win, PC Quigley said: “It’s overwhelming really, there are so many nominations and so many people acting above and beyond our call of duty it’s amazing.

"I’m very grateful for the that people voted for us and that we won the award, it’s brilliant.”

Sgt Allmond added not in his 'wildest dreams' did he think they would win, adding: “We were just doing our job."

Calum Macleod, chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, praised the pair, saying: “The courage and professionalism shown by Sgt Allmond and PC Quigley went above and beyond the normal call of duty.

"They showed exceptional bravery, and thoroughly deserve to win this award. Thank you for your dedication to helping to keep the public safe”.