Crime fighter milkman has a lot of bottle

AWARD Ian Beardwell BRAVE Ian Beardwell has been crowned milkman of the year for helping police catch criminals he has seen at work in the early hours during his rounds.

Mr Beardwell, 49, beat 1,100 nominees to scoop delivery firm Milk&More’s Milkman of the Year gong.

He has confronted thieves twice in the past fortnight alone in Southfields and Wandsworth, South London, his round for the past 27 years.

Last Thursday at 2am he caught two youths trying to steal an elderly woman’s house keys by poking a cane through the letterbox.

And a thief he spotted stealing tools from a van at 2am a fortnight ago was later caught by police thanks to him.

He said: “It’s impossible for me to turn a blind eye.”