A heroic London Ambulance Service paramedic chased down and caught a robber who had just attacked a pensioner.

Daniel Whittard, a motorcycle paramedic based at Whipps Cross University Hospital in Leytonstone, said he was “incensed” to see a man tussling with an elderly woman as he tried to steal her handbag in Beachcroft Road, Leytonstone, at 6pm on Monday.

He had been completing some paperwork after attending an incident nearby when he saw the commotion on the other side of the street.

Describing the incident, he said: “I heard a scream and saw a stocky man pulling at this woman’s handbag.

"Suddenly, she fell to the floor and I could see him clearly grabbing her bag. I started walking over and he made a run for it.

“It’s not normally something I would do and I don’t really know why I did it, but I ran after him.”

Daniel pursued the robber down a side street and thought he had lost him but, as he turned to head back to his motorcycle, he ran straight into him.

Daniel added: “I got him to lie down on the floor and put his hands behind his back and he told me where he’d thrown the handbag.

"I think it’s because he saw my black motorcycle leathers and thought I was a police officer.”

The woman, reported to be in her sixties, was said to be very shaken by the robbery and was treated by an ambulance crew for cuts and bruises at the scene.

Daniel, who has worked for the service for 13 years, said: “Normally we only see the aftermath of incidents like this, and it’s quite different to be involved from the start.

“The lady was very grateful for my help. She was surprised that despite her cries for help no-one else intervened but I don’t want to make a mountain out of a molehill - the police do this kind of thing every day.”

The mugger remains in police custody.