HEROIC Peopleton schoolgirl Stephanie Deane has won a police award for saving a young woman who threatened to jump off a bridge.

The 15-year-old grabbed the woman's hand and pulled her to safety just before she was about to throw herself into the river. She then took the woman to the police station and waited with her until she was taken care of.

The pupil from Bowbrook House School, Peopleton, near Pershore, was given a Good Citizen award at West Mercia police headquarters on Wednesday for outstanding community service.

"My friend and I were walking across the Sabrina footbridge in Worcester about a month ago," Stephanie said. "It was about 7.30pm and as we got to the centre of the bridge we saw a woman sitting on the railings.

"She had scars on her upper arm and she didn't look well.

"She had taken off her shoes and her jumper and looked like she was about to jump into the river."

Stephanie, from St John's in Worcester and her friend, Claire Caines, started talking to the 19-year-old and asking her what was wrong.

"We were talking and suddenly she got a bit weird. I grabbed her arm as hard as I could and pulled her back off the railings on to the bridge," Stephanie said.

The woman put her shoes back on and the two girls walked with her to the police station.

"She didn't want me to leave her so I waited until she was taken to hospital," Stephanie said. "It was all a bit scary."

Stephanie and Claire, who goes to the Chantry High School in Martley, were among 43 children to win awards in the scheme, run by the police and the education authority.

They were nominated by their schools for outstanding achievement in the community and won a certificate, a lapel badge and cash for a charity of their choice.

Three students from Pershore High School were also honoured for quick thinking and selfless acts of bravery.

Tamie and Charlene Kellard, aged 15 and 13, were praised for going to the rescue of an elderly man who had fallen on to the railway line at Pershore Station and was unconscious. They administered first aid and got help for him.

Thirteen-year-old Duane Whitehouse received an award for his battle against Perthes Disease, a potentially crippling hip condition. Following successful surgery he raised £500 for the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital at Oswestry.