A MINE-clearing expert from the North-East is returning to work less than a year after his foot was blown off by an anti-personnel landmine.

David Alderson was injured as he tried to help rescue a shepherd stranded in an unmarked minefield in South Lebanon last year

The father-of-two, from Saltburn, east Cleveland, was working as a civilian weapons clearance specialist when he fell victim to an Israeli anti-personnel mine in November.

His colleague, Damir Paradzik, from Bosnia and Herzegovina, also lost a leg, and a third man, Nabil Hammoud, from Lebanon, lost his front teeth in the explosion.

But only nine months after the incident, Mr Alderson has been given the all-clear to return to work.

He was discharged by his physio yesterday and is expected to fly out to Uganda on Friday.

He said: "I don't mess about. I can't wait. I have had it in my mind the whole time."

Mr Alderson, Mr Paradzik and Mr Hammoud, who work for ArmorGroup International, a private security company, were involved in a cluster bomb clearance operation at the time of the incident.

The trio heard an explosion in a nearby field and saw the shepherd in distress.

Mr Alderson, a former soldier, tried to direct the man to safety, but the language barrier and the man's state of shock made it impossible and Mr Alderson decided to try to rescue him.

Almost immediately, he stepped on a landmine and was knocked unconscious.

When he came to, he crawled to nearby rocks to await rescue.

He was taken to hospital, where doctors amputated his badly-damaged leg below the knee.

Mr Alderson, 42, returned to his home in Saltburn in December, where he began treatment at The James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough.

His treatment has included laser treatment to his eye and an operation on his leg. He now has a prosthetic limb.

He said: "I have been having physio twice a week and I've been put right through my paces. But if you put in the effort and remain committed, you do get rewarded for it."

He has nothing but praise for the staff at the hospital. He said: "All the staff have been absolutely brilliant - I can't thank them enough. The surgeons went out of their way to help me and kept a close eye on me, and the professionalism of the physio has been brilliant.

"They're all over the moon that I am going back because they get a sense of achievement too."

Despite what happened, Mr Alderson is not nervous about returning to work.

"It is all part and parcel of the job - and seeing my colleagues again will be absolutely brilliant," he added.

Earlier this year, Mr Alderson, was presented with a bronze medal by the Royal Humane Society in recognition of his bravery