A MERSEYSIDE electrician who joined the Territorial Army to earn extra income saved the lives of five comrades in a fierce firefight with the Taliban.

Father-of-two George Moffitt, 35, rescued four soldiers and a civilian cameraman as they came under attack from Afghan insurgents.

Mr Moffitt, of Birkenhead, has been hailed a hero by friends.

Recalling the incident, Mr Moffitt, who is attached to the Parachute Regiment, said: “There was a compound 200m away with massive rusting metal gates and all of a sudden we saw the women, children and cattle leaving, so we knew something was up straightaway.

“The next minute, there was a long burst of fire. It felt like it was for five minutes but it was not, it was about 60 seconds. It was constant.

“All five of them were hit – one in the arm, one had a bullet ricochet through both legs, one in his armour, and another straight in and out of his helmet, and the cameraman next to me was hit twice in the leg.”

Mr Moffitt could not help the casualties at first because he had to fight back against the Taliban.

He said: “I realised there was a hole in the gates to the compound where they had corroded. They had obviously just stuck a machine gun there because the bursts were so accurate. The rounds were still coming in so I just got up and fired a few rounds and grenades back into the compound, which quietened them down.

“There were still pot shots coming, then the commanding officer called in some mortars, which started annihilating the compound.

“Then we had support from an Apache helicopter, which fired hellfire missiles to neutralise it.” Having won the firefight, Mr Moffitt tended to his injured colleagues.