A WEST Mercia police officer has won a national strongman competition.
Detective Stuart Edwards, a West Mercia police officer for over 11 years, originally got into strongman - strength athletics - in 2011 while working on patrol shifts.
READ MORE: Event raised funds for dog charity and promoted pet therapyDet Edwards said: "I had competed in a few local competitions and done quite well but was injured on duty damaging both my shoulders while restraining a young man following a mental health breakdown.
"These injuries required two surgeries and nearly two years of recovery.
"In 2017 I was able to return to competition level and won Shropshire's Strongest Man."
At the beginning of the year Det Edwards was approached and encouraged by two previous supervisors, Insp Tracy Ryan and Insp Charlie Parker, who had heard about the Police Sport UK's hosting of the UK's Strongest Police Officer 2019.
The annual competition was held on June 23, in Lincoln, and was open to anyone who is a police employee.
Det Edwards competed against officers from across the UK, including Northern Ireland and Scotland in events including truck pulling and picking up atlas stones weighing up to 150kg.
And when the winners were announced Det Edwards took the title for UK's Strongest Police Officer.
Det Edwards added: "On the day over £1,000 was raised for two charities; MIND and the Police Dependants Trust."
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