PC Darren JenningsHERO cop, Darren Jennings, helped save the life of an army officer whose arm had become partially severed during an horrific road accident.

The brave 31-year-old was the first officer on scene at the incident last Wednesday just after 11.30am, when a bicycle being ridden by Colonel John Ibbotson, was involved in a collision with a car at Longbridge Deverill, Salisbury Plain.

Realising that the man had already lost a lot of blood, the quick-thinking PC plugged the artery in the officer's arm with his own bare hands for 20 minutes in an attempt to reduce the bleeding.

The colonel's right arm was hanging on by a piece of tissue after it had become almost totally severed just below the right elbow. He had been thrown ten feet into the air during the collision and hurled into the windscreen.

PC Jennings, who is married with one son and is based at Tisbury police station, said: "He was bleeding profusely and it was virtually a full amputation with the amount of blood he was losing.

"I immediately saw where the artery was and traced the artery and applied direct pressure to try and stem the flow until the air ambulance arrived.

"By the time I had got there he had probably lost about two pints of blood."

The colonel, who was initially airlifted to the Royal United Hospital, Bath and then taken to Frenchay Hospital, Bristol, remains in a stable condition.

Amazingly, surgeons have been able to save his arm following several operations, although he is still recovering from a fractured skull.

Colonel Ibbotson is based at the Army Training and Recruiting Agency (ATRA) headquarters in Upavon.