An off-duty ’cop couple’ who helped arrest would-be burglars have received West Midlands Police awards for their quick actions.

Police intuition kicked in for husband and wife Richard and Lisa Jones, of WMP, after spotting a suspicious pair as they travelled through Lower Penn last June.

They approached the man and woman outside their targeted residential property; and Richard, an offender management inspector at Brierley Hill, was assaulted as on-duty uniformed officers were called.

The suspects tried to discard evidence but eagle-eyed Lisa, a sex offender management constable in Wolverhampton, was able to point officers from Staffordshire Police to where screwdrivers had been thrown.

A back door was found to have been forced and the man and woman were arrested and later charged for attempted burglary. The off-duty officers have since retired from West Midlands Police after decades of long service. Richard said:

"Having observed the couple for a few minutes we both knew immediately that they were up to no good and reacted instinctively despite being off duty.

Richard received a Chief Constable’s Commendation and Lisa a Chief Constable's Award during a ceremony at Tally Ho! earlier this month.