A council maintenance worker is to receive a national life-saving award after stepping in to save a drunken woman self-harming in a public toilet.

Sam Messenger, of Ditchingham, was having lunch in his van outside the toilets in Wymondham when he was called to help by another worker who was fitting new locks.

Mr Messenger, 27, who works for South Norfolk Council, rushed inside to find a woman holding a blade with two lacerations to her neck.

Without thinking about his own safety, he grabbed some toilet paper and applied pressure to her wounds to stop the bleeding.

The father-of-four said: 'The man ran out and told me what was happening. At first I thought he was joking. Then another lady came running out and said the same thing too.

'So I put on a pair of blue gloves and ran inside. I tried speaking to her and grabbed her hands so she couldn't do anything else.

'My first reaction was just to stop her doing it because you don't want to see someone hurting themselves.

'She had a blade in her hand but it didn't register with me to be scared. I just did what I thought I needed to do.

'I think she had a few drinks because I could smell alcohol on her breath.'

Mr Messenger stayed with the woman until paramedics arrived, however they were unable to treat her while she was still armed and had to wait for back-up from police.

Mr Messenger said: 'Five or six policemen came in and Tasered her.

'She was then rushed to hospital.'

But Mr Messenger's heroic actions didn't end there. He stayed behind to close off the toilets and clean up the blood.

He said: 'I have cleaned up lots of nasty things before. It just comes with the job.

'There was a fair bit of blood and I just wanted to make sure it was safe and clean for other people.

'It wasn't until I got back to the yard and gave a statement that it dawned on me how horrible it all was.

'Even today I still sit and think about it.'

Mr Messenger's courageous actions have won him a Royal Humane Society Testimonial on Parchment unfolded, as well as the personal praise of Dick Wilkinson, secretary of the society.

The Testimonial on Parchment is awarded when someone has put themselves in danger to save, or attempt to save, someone else.

Mr Messenger is waiting to hear when he will be presented with the award.

He said: 'I was really shocked when I found out about it. I wasn't expecting it at all.

'I think everyone would have reacted in the same way. I just wanted to help her.'