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PC Harper was killed in 2019 after he was dragged for more than a mile at an average speed of 42.5mph responding to a quad bike theft

Andy Burnham is considering a rule change to block the early release of PC Andrew Harper's killers.

Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole are set to be freed under the Government’s early-release scheme, sparking outrage across the nation.

In an attempt to prevent the pair from being freed, Ministers are reportedly willing to introduce an exemption that would stop those convicted of a certain type of manslaughter from being automatically released.

The specification surrounds those who committed an "unlawful act" manslaughter.

The new plans put forward are intended to include most of the 470 people serving sentences for manslaughter who are eligible for release.

Other forms of manslaughter, such as gross negligence or voluntary manslaughter, would still be released under the plans.

PC Harper, 28, was killed in 2019 after he was dragged for more than a mile at an average speed of 42.5mph responding to a quad bike theft in rural Berkshire.

His ankle became caught in a strap trailing the getaway car, making him unable to free himself from the vehicle.

The passengers in the car, Bowers and Cole, were sentenced to 13 years each in July 2020 for "unlawful act manslaughter", with the judge saying the "death was caused in the course of an unlawful act which involved a deliberate and premeditated intention to drive, if accosted by the police, in a way which was reckless as to whether the police officers died or not."

They added: "It was designed to expose them to a risk of death, and it killed Police Constable Harper."

Before this year’s Sentencing Act, they would have served two-thirds of their term.

Mr Burnham previously said he had "pushed the very limits" in the changes he had made to the early release scheme but has now said he can go further.

The Prime Minister has also said that he is "increasingly confident" PC Harper’s killers will not be released early from their sentences as a result.

A petition calling on Labour to block two releases has hit one million signatures as the public protest the controversial release scheme.

The campaign was set up by the chairman of the Thames Valley Police Federation, Aileen O'Connor, who previously told GB News: "The public support is absolutely unbelievable and really at the heart of this and the heart of this petition and what I'm fighting for."

She added: "Because this isn't just a couple of 100 or a couple of thousand cops up and down the country that are outraged about this. This is the great British public that are behind that campaign and that feel as strongly as what I do.

"This is what my members and cops up and down this country feel, the justice hasn't been served for PC Andrew Harper.

"I am eternally grateful for those individuals that have taken the time to do that. But I'm not done. We're not there and we haven't had the change in the legislation. We haven't had a guarantee that this won't happen."

The Prime Minister has also come under pressure from 50 policing leaders from across the UK to use "every lawful option" to prevent the early release of PC Harper’s killers.