An armed robber is foiled by heroic post office staff and a bag snatcher is put under citizen's arrest by a Good Samaritan.

These might sound like the synopsis to an action-packed crime drama but they are actually the brave actions of some of the most public-spirited citizens in the Bradford area.

Yesterday, the High Sheriff of West Yorkshire, Roger Marshall, held an awards ceremony at Leeds Crown Court for the men and women who have gone beyond the call of duty to uphold the law in the last year.

Among those present was Yvonne Kierman, who helped to restrain a robber brandishing an imitation firearm.

Yvonne, who has refused to let the experience put her off her job at Ilkley Post Office, sat on the robber's legs until police arrived.

The 60-year-old, who has lived in Ilkley for 15 years, said she went into work to hear a commotion in the office. Branch manager Edward Sample was struggling with the offender and managed to wrestle him to the floor.

Yvonne said: "I then sat on his legs and made sure he could not run away by taking his shoes off.

"It was 20 minutes before the armed response unit got there, so it was a bit difficult holding him down for that time."

Also at the presentation was Jonathan Jowett, who carried out a citizen's arrest on a young man who had stolen a handbag in Bradford city centre.

Mr Jowett, 51, was walking under the subway at Jacob's Well last February when he heard a woman shouting and screaming.

When a man came running towards him he grabbed him and pushed him against the wall.

The man turned out to be fleeing from the scene of a robbery and Mr Jowett, helped by another passer-by, frog-marched the offender the short distance to Bradford Central Police Station.

Mr Jowett, of Leeds, said: "It's great to do something right and to be recognised for it."

Meanwhile, Bradford University student Vijay Dahiya was recognised for a public spirited act he carried out while studying in the city.

Mr Dahiya, a 26-year-old student from India, witnessed three suspicious men on his street, one with a screwdriver.

Just as he got through to police to report the men, they broke into a house across the road from his student digs in Greaves Street, Bradford. Because of Mr Dahiya's quick action, police were on the scene quickly and all three were arrested.

Mr Dahiya said: "When I looked at my phone after the incident, I worked out that it had taken five minutes from me calling police to them all being arrested."

Two good Samaritans who work in the Bradford district were also given certificates for preventing a wounded cashier's injuries from becoming fatal.

David Thewlis, manager of Shipley-based Rosse Systems, and Susan Gillson, a civil servant in Bradford, went to the aid of a filling station worker who had been attacked.

Susan applied pressure to the man's head to stop the bleeding from a wound which required 12 stitches, while Mr Thewlis had intervened in the scuffle and had been instrumental in the arrest of the offender. The incident happened at a filling station in Wortley, Leeds.

e-mail: will.kilner@bradford.newsquest.co.uk