A DOG handler from Wigan saved a soldier maimed by a bomb in Afghanistan before hunting down Taliban fighters who made the device.

Lance Corporal Lee Edwards, 27, used English springer spaniel Molly to find the men who planted the bomb.

Lee and Molly, of 101 Military Working Dog Unit, were just three yards from the blast and were lucky to survive.

They were supporting a team on a night search for improvised explosive devices (IEDs) - crude but deadly bombs - on a road near Sangin when the drama unfolded.

Lee, who joined up eight-and-a-half years ago, said: "One of the soldiers stood on a pressure plate IED.

"It was very close to where I was standing with Molly and the force of it blew us into the air.

"When I landed, I was dazed for a moment and my hearing was badly affected. I could just about hear screaming through the smoke and dust. I knew there were multiple casualties."

He dusted himself off and scrambled through the dark with the aid of his night vision goggles in a desperate bid to find casualties.

As a fellow soldier sent up a flare, Lee was able to see the most seriously injured.

He said: "He was in a really bad way. He had lost three limbs and was losing a lot of blood.

"I applied tourniquets to each of his wounds to stem the blood flow. With the help of field dressings and a blood clotting agent, I managed to stop the bleeding."

Despite his catastrophic injuries, the soldier survived, thanks to Lee's prompt action.

The following day, Molly got a scent as they carried on clearing Taliban death traps.

Lee said: "She led me to an IED-making kit, probably similar if not the same as the one that would have produced the IED that had hit our patrol the day before.

"There were four people with the IED-making kit who were arrested immediately.

"It felt good to know that we were addressing the source of the problem, not just the IEDs themselves."

Lee transferred to the dog unit from the 1st Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment because he wanted to work with animals.