An unarmed British soldier was hailed for his astonishing bravery after capturing a Taliban bombing chief in a fist fight.

Private Lee Stephens leapt off an armoured vehicle to grab the high-ranking Taliban fighter from a motorbike after a chase across the desert in Helmand province.

"I grabbed the geezer," said Gunner Pte Stephens, 30. "It was Mark One left, Mark Two right fists. That was it. No weapons, just my hands."

Soldiers from B Company, 3rd Battalion the Mercian Regiment, based at Durai Junction on Highway One, had pushed into an insurgent hotspot looking to disrupt the enemy.

Shortly after spotting an improvised explosive device, the soldiers saw a motorcyclist approach as they crossed open ground.

Insurgent gunmen then opened fire from behind him pinning the soldiers down and letting him speed off.

Lt Martyn Fulford, 24, from Churchdown in Gloucester, was commanding one of two Warrior armoured vehicles 2km away, which set off to intercept the bike.

He said: "It was a race towards Highway One. If he reached the tarmac he would have been able to outpace us. We just pipped him. I had my rifle out of the turret screaming at him. Pte Stephens ripped his headset off and leapt down."

Pte Stephens, from Solihull, said he grabbed the suspect around the neck and dragged him towards his vehicle. Asked what he was thinking, he said: "My muckers were getting shot at and I thought, 'I'm not having that.' "

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