By Rob Banks, Crime Editor

A brave cop who caught a lorry packed with stolen paint has now been decorated.

PC Matt Coates was on duty on the A14 near Stowmarket when he received a call about the theft of a blue Scania truck and 50,000 cans of Dulux from nearby Claydon.

He spotted the stolen lorry moments later and managed to overtake it and then block the carriageway before forcing the driver to give himself up.

A spokesman for Suffolk Police said: “The owners of the paint were grateful and nominated PC Coates to be decorated for his bravery.

“PC Coates is a modest chap and tried to gloss over it, but we could tell he was quite emulsional because it was his first arrest.”

The spokesman added that PC Coates, 28, later celebrated his award by “getting plastered” with his mates.

And following his brush with the law, robber Derek Smith, 63, from London, was jailed for six months at Ipswich Crown Court.