Thousands of people across the country have run in an event to honour a police officer killed on duty.

Thousands of people across the country have run in an event to honour a police officer killed on duty.

Newlywed PC Andrew Harper died on 15 August after being dragged along a road by a vehicle in Sulhamstead, Berkshire.

Jed Foster, 20, has been charged with the 28-year-old’s murder.

Organisers of the event on Monday say runners raised in excess of £24,000 for charity and almost 5,000 people took part.

West Yorkshire Police officer PC Sam Swift, who is part of running group Trail Snails Bingley, came up with the idea, which allowed people to take part wherever they were.

All they had to do was register, pay a £6 entry fee, and complete their run on Monday.

Each person ran 7.605km, in recognition of PC Harper’s collar number, 7605, and posted their time on the race page.

PC Swift said PC Harper’s death had hit “close to home” and people wanted to do something positive.

“I’ve done this job for a number of years and you know there’s always a chance that you may not go home at the end of the day and that’s always at the back of your mind,” she said.

PC Swift ran at 10:00 BST in Bingley, West Yorkshire, and said the response nationwide, and even overseas, had been “amazing”.

“A lot of people got in touch to say they are serving police officers, or retired police officers, while others just wanted to pay their respects.”

All money raised will go to Care of Police Survivors (COPS) and a fund set up by Thames Valley Police for the officer’s family.