Cayle Royce, the Dartmouth soldier who suffered catastrophic injuries in a Taliban bomb ambush earlier this year, is back home for Christmas.

And one of the first things he did was thank the people of Dartmouth for their 'incredible' generosity and kindness.

The 26-year-old is staying at a riverside apartment in the town after the holiday home owner and a local lettings agency stepped in to help ensure that Cayle had somewhere suitable to stay so that he could spend Christmas and the New Year with his mother Bronwyn and friends and family.

Cayle lost both his legs in the devastating bomb explosion while out on patrol in Afghanistan earlier this year which left him in a coma for more than five weeks.

Since then he has been battling to rebuild his life, undergoing rehabilitation at Headley Court in Surrey.

This is the first time that Cayle has been able to return to his home town to stay for any time since his injuries.

He said: 'I will be in Dartmouth until mid January. I was here briefly in November for a few hours to see a house but this is the first time I've been back to stay.

'It's good to be back in town although it is a considerable adjustment since the last time I was here.

'I return to Headley Court in January and I am looking forward to hopefully ordering my permanent prosthetic limbs.

'It will, however, take a lot of hard work and a number of months, potentially years, to become competent on them.

'Over the Christmas period, we have a number of family members coming over from South Africa and, together with my immediate family and friends, they will be joining me at the Dart Marina apartment on Christmas Day for a big meal.

'I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to the people of Dartmouth for the incredible generosity and kindness shown to myself and my family during what has been a very difficult time.

'Although I have only lived in Dartmouth for the past seven years, I do consider it to be my home, and now even more so than before.'

His accommodation was sorted out through holiday lettings company Coast and Country Cottages in Dartmouth after the agency was approached for help by a 'locally-based retired officer', said a partner Andrew Jones.

Mr Jones said that thanks to Coast and Country Cottages, the generosity of the owner of the property and a grant from the Colonel's Fund of the Light Dragoons, Cayle will be enjoying Christmas and the New Year with his family in Dartmouth

He added: 'Both the agency and the owners of the apartment are very happy to help this local family and hope that they have an enjoyable Christmas and New Year together at Dart Marina after such a difficult year.

'Each year Coast and Country Cottages makes a charitable donation instead of sending out Christmas cards to property owners. As a result of our contact with the charity, we have decided to make the Colonel's Fund our charity of choice this Christmas.'

Cayle was with a squadron of the Light Dragoons in Afghanistan's Helmand Province when he was injured by a Taliban IED. He spent 10 weeks in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham before being moved to Headley Court.