A BRAVE Popley dad who was hospitalised for six days after he was injured stopping a shoplifter in his tracks was one of the civilians honoured by the police for their service to the community this week.

Father-of-eight John Hope, of Shakespeare Road, rushed to stop the thief when he saw him pelting out of Safeway with security guards pursuing him on November 10, last year - but he suffered a badly broken leg for his courage.

John, 43, told The Gazette: "He was going at some pace, and when I stopped in front of him, he went through my leg.

"I tripped him up, so I succeeded in doing what I wanted to do, but when I stood up, I knew my leg was broken - it buckled in the wrong place.

"The thief skidded on his front the length of two cars and the security guards jumped on him straight away."

John was taken to Basingstoke hospital, where he had an operation to put a pin in his leg, and was kept in for six days.

Basingstoke's chief police officer, Superintendent Paul Netherton, commended him for his "bravery and dedication in the arrest of a shoplifter, with little regard for his own safety" at the police service to the community awards ceremony on Tuesday evening.

Praising all the people who were receiving awards, Supt Netherton said: "This is really a way of us saying thank you for your acts of bravery, acts of heroism and really for being how members of the public should be.

"It's always great when members of the public support us and do things that really show their community spirit."

John said he would intervene again if he thought someone had committed a crime. "It's good that someone is thinking about us and seeing what we're doing, and it's nice to have someone thank you," he said.