POLICE officers have been praised for saving the life of a woman after she was forced to wait 90 minutes for a paramedic to arrive.

Ambulance crews were called to attend to the patient who had self harmed at an address in the Manningtree area at 7.50pm on Saturday but a paramedic was not on the scene until 9.21pm.

Police officers managed to stem the woman’s bleeding with a towel before they transported to her hospital.

Essex police chief constable Stephen Kavanagh took to Twitter to praise the brave actions of the officers.

He said: “Fantastic work by Essex Police on Saturday night, saving life of a woman in crisis.

“Woman suffered severe mental health problems self-harmed, Essex police forced entry and spent 90 minutes stemming bleeding with a towel.

“Without their help she would have died. Police van took her to hospital and was off the road the rest of the night."