A man has been arrested on suspicion of attempting to murder a police officer in Somerset last night.

The incident occurred in Weston-super-Mare on June 27 at about 7:45pm.

Officers carried out a stop and search check under Section 23 of the Misuse of Drugs Act following concerns over a man in Drove Road.

The man ran off and when one of the officers pursued him into Locking Road, the man produced a knife and tried to stab the officer.

Members of the public intervened which enabled the officer to escape, despite the man making further attempts to stab him.

Officers then managed to detain the man following the use of PAVA spray.

Ch Insp Tina Robinson said: “This was an extremely concerning incident in which an officer was threatened and repeatedly lunged at with a knife. He was very shaken by the ordeal but thankfully wasn’t injured.

“The intervention of members of the public, who bravely came to the officer’s aid, and the efforts of his colleagues helped prevent him being seriously injured, or worse.

“One member of the public tried to drive their car at the offender while the incident was ongoing and we’d like to identify this person, as well as anyone else who witnessed this incident, as they may have vital information for us.

“A 21-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, possession of class A drugs and possession of class C drugs and he’s in custody for questioning.”

If you can help the inquiry, please call the police via 101 and quote reference 5216140817