A Kent army captain risked his life by running out twice into enemy fire.

Captain Tom Bennet, 28, from Sittingbourne, is a bomb-disposal expert serving in Afghanistan.

He put his own life on the line to make safe a deadly roadside bomb.

The hero officer commands one of the Improvised Explosive Devices Disposal Teams operating in Afghanistan, searching for and making safe the lethal explosive devices used by the Taliban.

His 10-man team recently braved Taliban fire to make safe a potentially deadly roadside-bomb, despite being ambushed while undertaking the nerve-wracking clearance.

Discovered by Danish troops patrolling in the Nad e’Ali area, the device was near a bridge over a canal – an important crossing-point used regularly by coalition forces and civilians alike.

it contained more than 20kg of high-explosives and would have been activated by a passing vehicle or if trodden on by a serviceman or passer-by.

Tom and his team of bomb-disposal experts, serving with the Joint Force Explosive Ordnance Disposal team, were rushed out by helicopter from Camp Bastion, where they had been waiting on high-alert, ready to move within minutes to deal with any IEDs discovered in Helmand Province.

The team soon realised the device was too big to remove, and they would have to destroy it with a controlled explosion.

Despite the outer cordon of Danish soldiers, the Taliban suddenly ambushed the team, firing from three different locations with automatic rifles.

With bullets flying overhead and the device still not made safe, Tom ran 20 metres out into open ground in view of the enemy while his colleagues put down suppressing fire to cover him.

Brave Tom rushed out to set a demolition charge on the bomb before running back into cover.

However, the unstable nature of the home-made explosives in the bomb meant it failed to fully explode.

Despite the risk, and the continuing Taliban fire, Tom sprinted out again to set another charge – this time it was successful and the bomb exploded, showering them in rocks and sand, but fortunately causing no injuries.

With the bomb made safe, the battle with the enemy ended.

When asked about his bravery, Tom, who serves in the UK with 11 EOD Regiment Royal Logistic Corps, said:

“The device was so big that if it had gone off it would have definitely caused injuries or even deaths to anyone caught in the blast. It had been deliberately placed in a location which would have hit coalition troops or civilians, which is typical of the Taliban’s disregard for life and their cowardly tactics.

“As a team we have been dealing with devices almost every day all over Helmand – the most we’ve done is five in one day. Sometimes you can scare yourself a bit, but then, there is danger to anyone here in Afghanistan and to us it’s just another job.”

Tom has just weeks of his tour left and is looking forward to returning home to his wife Beth back in Edinburgh and to visiting his parents Roger and Tommy (Thomasina), brother Sam and sister Naomi, all back in Sittingbourne.

“I can’t wait to get home – it’s been a very busy tour with lots of time spent out in forward locations on operations which is tiring. I look forward to getting home to Edinburgh where I am currently based and back to my lovely wife, Beth, and to seeing my family in Sittingbourne.”