A policeman who spent his 41-year career as a bobby on the beat in Bradford and Keighley following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather has been honoured for his courage and commitment.

Joe Wilson has been presented with the Jane's Police Review Lifetime Achieve-ment in Policing award.

Earlier this year he received a similar award from West Yorkshire Police at a ceremony in Bingley. And in 1992 he was awarded the Queen's Police Medal in the New Year's Honours list.

His latest accolade came at an awards ceremony in London attended by the most senior figures in policing and Government including Home Secretary John Reid and Police Minister Tony McNulty.

During his career Mr Wilson made 3,500 arrests including 12 in one night, one when off-duty, jumped into a canal to save someone's life and received a list of police honours. When he retired as a constable at Keighley in July, it marked the close of family tradition stretching back 100 years.

His father and grandfather, with whom he shared the same name, pounded the beat in Bradford before him.

And he even carried the same collar number 346 - as his grandfather - Joseph Barker Wilson, who joined the former Bradford City Police in 1910 and began the long line of family service.

After 36 years of unblemished service, and two World Wars, he retired in 1946.

Mr Wilson's father, another Joseph Barker Wilson, joined Bradford City police in 1938 and, other than serving for two years in the Guards Regiments during the Second World War, he had an exemplary 30 years service before retiring in 1968.

Speaking of his career, Mr Wilson said: "I went on the streets armed with a whistle. I worked alone to the day I retired. I liked to be alone, that is the way to do things."

He admitted the biggest changes he had seen in policing over the past 40 years were in technology.

He said: "Technology over-complicated policing for me; I am not a technology person. I cannot really use computers. I could not even send an e-mail until two years ago."

When he became a police officer in 1965 it was one of two great ambitions in his life - the other was to marry his wife Margaret, now deceased.

Both his sons wanted to continue the tradition but due to colour vision defects they were unable to join.

e-mail: clive.white@bradford.newsquest.co.uk