A BT engineer was hailed a hero after he helped a woman who had her bag taken.

Austin Collins, 53, was on his way to maintain the city's CCTV system when he met distressed Viv Bock, a cleaner at the BT Factory Road premises in Newport.

She told him her handbag had been snatched as she walked through the underpass at the railway station.

Austin, an engineer for 36 years, then drove round looking for a suspect who had made off towards the Gold Tops area of the city.

He then saw someone who fitted the description, followed him and called the CCTV centre for them to tell the police.

The police arrived quickly and arrested a suspect. The bag was later found.

Thanks to Austin, Viv's bag, containing £300 cash, was recovered. Viv, who has worked for BT for 18 years, was very shaken after her ordeal and says she finds it hard to go near the underpass.

She said: "Austin is a hero. Thanks to him my mortgage money was safe and only my purse was missing.

"I would like to thank him and all my BT colleagues for their kindness. I received a big basket of flowers from them because I was so upset. They are like my own family," she said.

Mr Collins said: "I am not a superhero - just a normal person doing a good deed."