Chasing a man brandishing a samurai sword, wrestling a 9in knife from a suicidal person and catching a murder suspect are all in a day's work for Sussex Police.

These and many more acts of bravery have been recognised at a ceremony in Crawley.

Sussex Police Authority chairman Mark Dunn presented awards to several officers to mark their courage in difficult or dangerous situations.

PC Karl Middleton, PC Bernie Winter and PC Ellie Casey answered a 999 call saying a man had been threatening the occupants of a house with a knife in Bewbush, Crawley, on April 27.

They searched the area and spotted the man with a silver scabbard round his waist.

He confronted PCs Casey and Winter and brandished the sword at them from just 6ft away. The officers tried pepper spray on the man to no effect.

Chief Inspector David Leeney said: "Despite the apparent danger to both the public and police involved the officers continued to chase the man.

"When he was eventually found he had discarded his sword but was still violent and was threatening the officers.

"He was arrested by PC Middleton despite violent threats."

The man was charged with affray.

Three more officers were recognised for bravery and quick-thinking when a woman reported her husband was threatening to commit suicide and was "going to do it properly this time".

When Crawley officers PCs Ben Coone, Karl Middleton and John Saunderson arrived, the man, who had a history of depression, had locked himself in a cupboard.

When he was persuaded to open the door he was lying on his back with a 9in carving knife in his hand that he was trying to push into his chest.

Mr Leeney said: "It took the efforts of all three officers to disarm and restrain him safely. As a result of their quick actions he was prevented from causing a fatal injury to himself and is now receiving medical help."

In December three officers arrested a drug dealer after he tried to run them over.

Sergeant Kevin Doidge, PC Ross Cameron and PC Adam Thiim arrived at Crawley station car park on a tip-off to search a black Punto for drugs.

The driver tried to escape and ended up reversing towards PCs Thiim and Cameron so they had to jump out of the way to avoid being hit.

Then they ran alongside the car and smashed the windows with their batons until it hit a wall. The dealer was pulled out and arrested.

Officers found £5,000 worth of crack cocaine and heroin and the man was charged with drugs and driving offences.

Mr Leeney said: "A large volume of Class A drugs was recovered, causing disruption to trafficking in the Crawley area.

"The person arrested is a key individual responsible for the transport and dissemination of drugs from London to Sussex. All officers acted quickly and decisively to execute a dangerous arrest.

"There was a dance at an adjacent nightclub at the time and the area was inundated with youths under 17 who could have been injured."

Inspector Phil Ashby and PCs Paul Chuter, Nikki Denero, Gareth Jackson, Mark Miller, Stuart Potts and Mark Scruby were involved in arresting Lee Bamber for the murder of Jonathan Kendrick in Hove.

On October 10, 2004 a man arrived at Pulborough police station saying a friend had confessed to a murder. The officers got him to arrange to meet the friend at a 24-hour garage where some of them posed as staff.

The friend, Bamber, was arrested, confessed and was charged with murder.

He was jailed last week for a reduced charge of manslaughter with diminished responsibility.

At the same time PC Mark Stoner was dealing with a mentally ill man in Storrington who was on drugs and threatening to kill himself with a large knife if anyone went in to him. PC Stoner persuaded him to come out after two hours.

PC Mark Holding was rewarded for 29 detections in six months while still on probation. Detective Sergeant Nick Clacy and Detective Constable Kevin Parker were recognised for their burglary detection work.