A Bolton man now serving as a police officer in America has spoken of the moment he came inches from death during a shoot-out.

Jim Pullen, aged 38, has won a bravery award for his role in the capture of Earl Deckler who opened fire on state troopers in Westminster, near Baltimore, Maryland, after a high speed car chase.

Mr Pullen, an expert marksman, was on patrol when he was called in to help the state troopers. Deckler had argued with his girlfriend and seemed determined to force police to kill him in a so-called "suicide by police."

Mr Pullen was called in because he is trained in firing shotgun rounds designed to disable rather than kill.

He was about 25ft from Deckler when the gunman opened fire twice with a .38 revolver, the bullets narrowly missing Mr Pullen and smashing the windows of a nearby patrol car.

The drama was brought to an end when Mr Pullen shot and wounded Deckler, bringing him down and enabling other officers to capture him. Deckler was later sentenced to 25 years in jail.

Mr Pullen has now been given a special bravery award by Westminster City police department.

He admits he could easily have been killed: "When I was doing it I was thinking 'This doesn't feel too good'," he said.

"I did have confidence in my training and the people around me, but it was at the back of my mind that I could get killed.

"It was only afterwards that I thought about the full magnitude of what happened."

Mr Pullen, whose mother Anita Whiteley and brother Alastair Pullen still live in Sharples, was also named Westminster City's officer of the year for making 45 drink-drive arrests -- the most in Maryland -- last year.

"I feel honoured, but it was a surprise because I honestly thought there were other officers who'd done a better job than I had," he said.

He is a former Church Road Primary and Smithills Grammar School pupil.

He lived in the Smithills and Egerton areas and worked as a Ministry of Defence policeman in Blackburn and North Yorkshire before emigrating to the United States in 1996.