Police are helped by thermal imaging to rescue a missing pensioner

Dramatic moment police officers are helped by thermal imaging to rescue a missing pensioner, 76, who feared for his life after he got trapped in brambles in dense heathland

• Officers rescue pensioner who feared for life after getting trapped in brambles 
• Lynton Bradley, 76, strayed off walking course in Warwickshire on 12 November
• Footage shows police using thermal imaging to rescue the missing pensioner

Police officers used thermal imaging to rescue a missing pensioner who feared for his life after he got trapped in brambles and couldn’t free himself. 

Lynton Bradley, 76, had been walking near Coleshill, Warwickshire on 12 November when he strayed off course and fell into a ditch, which left him tangled in brambles in dense shrubland.

The footage, which has been posted on the West Midlands Police Twitter, shows the force’s specialist search unit rescuing the pensioner from the woodland by using thermal imaging from a helicopter.

Lynton Bradley, 76, had been walking near Coleshill, Warwickshire on 12 November when he strayed off course and fell into a ditch. He was located by thermal imaging

The video, which has been posted on the West Midlands Police Twitter, shows the force’s specialist search unit rescuing the pensioner after tracing his phone signal

After getting stuck, Mr Bradley, called his son Steve, from Peterborough, to say he was stuck in the ditch and couldn’t bend down to release himself from the sharp brambles.

His son contacted West Midlands Police who managed to trace Mr Bradley’s phone signal shortly before the battery went flat, which pointed to a wooded area near the M6 and Collector Road, Warwickshire.

Officers used thermal imaging from a helicopter to detect a heat source down an embankment, which showed Mr Bradley curled into a ball.

PCs Lee Parker and Adam Kendall found Mr Bradley after he’d been missing for around three hours.  

He told the officers ‘I was about to give up’.   

In the footage, as officers walk up to Mr Bradley, they are heard saying: ‘Are you sure you’re warm enough? I’m going to put this coat over you.’ 

The unit can be seen helping Mr Bradley through the undergrowth and freeing his feet from the brambles.

One of the officers consoles him and says: ‘Are you okay? You’re okay. We’ve got you. Don’t worry.’

The officer adds: ‘Has your phone battery run out? It’s s godsend that you had it with you. That’s how we found you. We tracked your phone. So please, please, please always have your phone with you wherever you go.’ 

His son contacted West Midlands Police who managed to trace Mr Bradley’s phone signal shortly before the battery went flat, and officers posted the footage to show the importance of having a phone with you at all times

The unit can be seen helping Mr Bradley through the undergrowth and freeing his feet from the brambles before getting him checked in an ambulance

Mr Bradley, who lost a show in the fall, was checked over by paramedics at the scene but apart from scratches and a sore foot – he wasn’t seriously injured.

His son Steve Bradley later praised the officers involved in the search.

He added: ‘Dad phoned me to say ‘I’m in trouble, I’ve gone for a walk and I’m lost, I’ve taken a fall I can’t get out’. I live in Peterborough and drove straight over; when I got there I couldn’t believe how many police were helping with the search.

‘It was amazing when I saw the torchlights and they appeared with him.

‘Another hour in there on his own and it may have been a different story. I can’t thank the officers enough for what they did to save him.

‘One of them said it’d made their year finding him alive and that’s really struck me how much they cared and desperately wanted to find him.’ 

Chief Superintendent Sarah Burton said: ‘It was a great team effort to find Lynton -this was a challenging area to search, a vast area of fields with thick set borders, deep trenches, water and dense undergrowth.

‘Their combined professionalism, dedication and commitment undoubtedly saved his life. All the officers involved should be very proud of their actions.’

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