Human kindness is alive and well in Swindon, as retired police officer Richard Fuller knows only too well. Mr Fuller told the Evening Advertiser of his gratitude as passers by rushed to his aid after he fell out of his wheelchair.

And now he wants to say a big thank you to the owners of the many helping hands that came to his assistance.

Mr Fuller, 51, who began his police career as a 17-year-old cadet, was on his way to lunch in Swindon town centre when the accident happened.

The former detective sergeant, who now works as an inquiry officer at Swindon police station, in Fleming Way, said: "I was on my lunch break and wanted to go over to Debenhams for a coffee.

"As I was crossing Islington Street a car came towards me. It was about 25 metres away and started slowing down for me.

"I had stopped but wanted to get out of its way quickly and in my haste to get out of the road I tipped my chair over backwards and fell out."

Mr Fuller, who has multiple sclerosis, said his wheelchair is designed to make it easy to lift the front wheels on to the pavement.

"I was a bit too enthusiastic to get out of the way and made a sort of wheelie and tipped back," he said.

"People came from the front and back to help me but it took me a few seconds to get my head together about what had happened.

"I was very embarrassed about the incident and just wanted to leave the area as quickly as possible. I might not have appeared grateful at the time but I really was."

And, although Mr Fuller continued with his mission to buy a cup of coffee, he ended up returning to the police station empty-handed.

He said: "When I reached Debenhams I noticed people were looking at me in a funny way. I then realised that I had blood all down my arms from where I had put out my elbows to break my fall.

"I have psoriasis which means my skin is thin. So when I bleed, I bleed a lot. I just turned round and came back to the station."

Mr Fuller retired from the force on medical grounds in December 1991.

He is now a familiar face behind the police station's reception desk. He said: "I can walk but with discomfort, and can't go far."