Two police officers who tackled an armed man wearing a suspected suicide vest near the Emirates Stadium are in line for a bravery award.

The officers challenged the man after witnesses described him as shouting aggressively and waving what appeared to be a machete in the street.

After he resisted they tackled him to the ground before spotting coloured electrical wires protruding from the suspect’s jacket - suggesting he was wearing a suicide vest.

Scotland Yard said that fearing for the public’s safety, Pcs Jason Hodgson and Alex Field “made the selfless decision to tightly hug the suspect to prevent his movement from triggering” what they feared to be a bomb.

A third officer, who had military experience, searched the man in Avenell Road, Highbury and dismantled a contraption which included a circuit board, electrical wires and mobile phones. It was later found to be harmless.

The suspect was found to have mental health problems and had strapped phones to himself with an intricate web of wires.

The Met said firearms officers, who arrived at the scene near Arsenal’s stadium in January last year minutes after the man’s arrest, would have had “to engage the suspect who presented every visual indication of a terrorist threat.”

The officers are among several nominations for the Met’s annual outstanding bravery of the year award which is chosen by public vote.

Others in line for an award include a dog handler who tackled a dangerous man who had doused himself in petrol and officers who dashed into burning buildings to rescue people, in one case pulling 10 people, including a baby and a pregnant woman, to safety.

Londoners can vote by going to the Met’s website at www.met.police.uk/bravery-awards.