THE bravery of a Bishop's Stortford hairdresser who tackled a man wielding a kitchen knife in a Bishop's Stortford street has been honoured by Hertfordshire Police.

Ian Reijs, who owns Brookes Hair in the High Street, was presented with the Hertfordshire Constabulary Award by police authority chairman Peter Holland at a ceremony in Hemel Hempstead.

On May 16 last year Mr Reijs, from Dunmow, saw Joao Fernandes attacking his wife Sonia after being alerted by the stabbed woman's screams. Mrs Fernandes had fled her home following a domestic argument and had been heading towards the police station when her husband gave chase waving the knife.

Mr Reijs went to her aid, grabbed Fernandes and managed to get him to drop the knife.

Then, with the help of another member of the public, managed to restrain him until police arrived.

Fernandes later pleaded guilty to attempted murder and was sentenced to more than nine years and three months imprisonment.

Sonia Fernandes, already wounded and desperately seeking refuge, had staggered to the building with her seven-year-old son at around 7pm.

But to her horror, she saw a sign on the door saying the station - which should have been open until late at night - was shut while special constables held a meeting inside.

As Mrs Fernandes, 27, frantically dialled an intercom system, her alleged assailant caught up with her and plunged a kitchen knife into her back.

The attack in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, which was revealed yesterday, is the latest example of the shocking impact of part-time policing.

Millions of people have been left without the help and protection they need as 1,000 stations, equivalent to one in three, have closed over the past ten years.

Most other stations have scaled down their opening times to weekday office hours, and some police chiefs have been accused of running the service 'like a business'.

Bishop's Stortford police station is among those which have cut back on hours. It should be open daily from 7am to 11pm.

Hertfordshire police said that on the day of the stabbing they had closed early because of staff shortages. A spokesman added: 'This was one of those freak situations.' The explanation did little to reassure Mrs Fernandes, who lives in Bishop's Stortford.

She said: 'It was terrifying. You go to a police station expecting to get help, not find the doors closed.

I wanted to hide inside but couldn't get in. I did not know what to do. I felt so helpless.' Her ordeal began when the attacker allegedly stabbed her in the stomach and slashed her forehead 300 yards from the police station, in Basbow Lane.

She ran there with her son Davide, expecting officers to rush to her aid.

But she ended up being saved by hairdresser Ian Reijs, who owns a salon opposite the station.

He saw Mrs Fernandes in distress and leapt on to the knifeman's back, toppling him.

Passers-by then helped Mr Reijs restrain the man until officers finally emerged from the police station.

Mr Reijs said: 'It is inexcusable to have no one at the main desk in the station in case of emergency. ' Police inspector Bob Radwell said: 'The station should be open until 11pm. But on that particular day, two people were off sick so the duty inspector decided to put officers out on patrol.

'It was not the wrong decision to make. We are damned if we do and damned if we don't.' He said officers arriving on the night shift had gone to help airport cleaner Mrs Fernandes within minutes of her intercom call for help.

After the incident on May 16 she spent two weeks in hospital, where she was treated for a collapsed lung and head, back and neck injuries.

A 29-year-old man has been charged with attempted murder.

Readers of the Daily Mail have flooded our special hotline to tell how criminals are operating freely in their areas because of part-time policing.

We launched an investigation after road rage victim Lee Fraser drove to his local police station to escape his pursuer - only to find it shut at 7.20am.

After a terrifying chase over six miles, Mr Fraser scrambled up the steps of the building and banged on the locked doors, but was left at the mercy of his assailant Anthony Blackwell.

Mr Fraser, 30, from Wimborne, Dorset, suffered serious eye injuries. His 45-year-old attacker is awaiting sentence.

A Daily Mail survey following the assault revealed that only 40 out of 100 police stations were open at 7.20am.

Even in London, eight out of 20 stations admitted they were shut at that time and one - Poplar, in East London - opens only two days a week.

If you are a victim of crime who suffered because of part-time policing, call the Daily Mail on 0207 938 6066 or email us at policestations@dailymail.co.uk.