A traffic warden helped police recover a large haul of crack cocaine and heroin in Colchester.

Now eagle-eyed Jackie Tyrrell' dedication to her job has won her a top Essex award.

Mrs Tyrrell is to be awarded the Betts Trophy by Essex Police, which is handed over to the traffic warden who performs the most meritorious act to help the police.

Eagled-eyed traffic warden Jackie Tyrrell, who helped police recover crack cocaine and heroin from a Colchester house. Picture: STEPHANIE MACKRILL (20047-a)

Mrs Tyrrell, who is based in Colchester, noticed a tax disc on a vehicle which had not been completed in the correct way.

Checks she made revealed it was a disc that had been taken during a post office robbery but when she returned, the car had gone.

And after she noticed it parked outside a house for only a few minutes, officers acted on her information and executed a warrant leading to three people being arrested and the drugs being discovered.

Mrs Tyrrell is no stranger to the award, having been a winner previously in 1994, and she will once again be handed it at a reception in Chelmsford tomorrow

"I just like to keep an eye out and in this instance it led to something important."

Published Tuesday, March 5, 2002