A HEROIC soldier from Neston ran across an unchecked mine field to catch a Taliban insurgent.

Irish Guardsman Lewis Wilby, who lives in Neston, caught insurgents red-handed laying improvised landmines.

And Guardsman Lewis Done, 20, from Liverpool, threw himself at another rebel, wrestling him to the ground.

Insurgents had been under surveillance for 48 hours, and were watched overnight as they laid IEDs in one of the most northerly and isolated places in the British area of operations in Helmand.

Guardsman Wilby, a former barman at the Red Lion in Parkgate, was weighed down by more than 60lbs of kit when he spotted an insurgent laying improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in the village of Rahim Kalay in the Upper Gereshk Valley, Afghanistan.

The bomber immediately fled and the 26-year-old sprinted after him across uncleared ground where IEDs were known to have been laid.

The MoD said they found him hiding in a village compound nearby.

The Taliban sympathiser, who could have caused the deaths of many soldiers or Afghan civilians, is now facing life in prison following the incident last month.

Guardsman Wilby, an ex-pupil of Parkgate Primary and Neston High school, said: “These two insurgents had been watched by surveillance laying IEDs, and we were tasked to detain them – so that’s what we did. The adrenaline was pumping as we chased them to a compound, but it was so satisfying when we detained the insurgent and took him to be arrested.

“I had to run through an IED belt which is not something I want to try again – but I made the judgment that, by watching carefully the route that the insurgent took, and following it as closely as possible, I would be OK.

“It feels like a massive achievement, because we’ve caught a bloke who wanted to hurt my comrades. We’ve had a tough time, but knowing I got a guy who has laid IEDs to try to kill us makes me happy.”

Major Mickey Stewart, Company Commander, No 4 Company Irish Guards, said: “The insurgent was completely taken by surprise when Guardsman Wilby and his platoon commander chased him down.”

Lewis now lives in Windsor, where the Guards’ Victoria Barracks is based, with his wife Lisa, a nurse.

The couple married in Thornton Hough last April.