Jack Marsden: 'I had to do something' A TV cop is set to be honoured by the real-life boys in blue after he rescued a woman who was being attacked.

Jack Marsden, who spent months filming in Bolton for the Bafta award-winning series Cops, will be presented with his Citation of Merit at a ceremony next week.

The super-fit actor, who is a black belt karate expert, rushed to help a Chinese woman who was being attacked by two youths in Manchester city centre.

During the attack, last September, the woman was pushed off her bike, kicked and punched before the two-man gang grabbed her cycle.

One of them made off on the bike while the second youth fled on foot --with Jack giving chase.

Jack, who plays PC Danny Rylance in the popular TV show, told how he vaulted crash barriers and railings chasing after the pair.

At the time of the rescue Jack, 37, told the BEN: "I thought to myself 'I'm not having that'. I train three times a week and I have got three karate trophies so I felt it was my duty to do something.

"I felt appalled at what I had just seen. I had to do something. I couldn't just stand by and watch."

As Jack ran after the youth, the actor tripped and fell to the ground, accidentally catching the back of the youth's foot. The youth was sent tumbling.

The actor told the BEN that after catching the youth, he pinned him to the ground, adding: "You're nicked!"

The man was not arrested as the woman did not lodge a complaint for personal reasons. Her mountain bike was later found abandoned and was returned.

Now Jack, a former boyfriend of Bolton Page Three model Ruth Higham, will receive special police praise at the awards ceremony on Tuesday to be held in Manchester Town Hall.

The award will come just months after the actor was freed from jail, having been sentenced to three months after taking Miss Higham on a terror car ride.

Bolton magistrates had imposed the prison sentence after Jack had admitted dangerous driving, driving while disqualified and without insurance, failing to stop after an accident and failing to report an accident.

Chief Constable David Wilmot will present Jack's award, along with other commendations to police officers and members of the public who displayed courage and bravery.