Many congratulations to the local people who have had their courage rewarded with a special award from the High Sheriff of West Yorkshire. Their nature would not let them turn away when the law was being broken. They had a go, at considerable risk to themselves. As a result, criminals were arrested and stolen goods recovered.

The general advice to the public from the police is usually not to have a go when they see or suspect a crime is being committed, but to alert them and let them deal with it. That advice is soundly based. Too many would-be heroes have been wounded or killed when they have intervened against a criminal. Others have even found themselves on a charge for their pains.

Yet there is another point of view, expressed by the High Sheriff, who said that policing would be impossible without co-operation and involvement of this kind. And it is true that, given the often-lamented shortage of police resources, some criminals would escape if members of the public did not take a risk.

There will always be people who are driven by instinct to have a go - just as there will always be others who will put caution and self-preservation first. None of us knows into which category we fall until we are put to the test.

The people honoured in this week's awards ceremony have taken that test and have proved themselves to be "have-a-go heroes". Good for them. Their actions send out a message to criminals that not everyone will stand by and let them get away with it.

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