A Watford man who lost his leg while serving in the Royal Engineers has become one of the first amputees to complete the gruelling cross-channel swim.

Jamie Gillespie, 39, was serving as a sapper when he was involved in a road traffic accident and lost his left leg below the knee in 1994.

He was discharged from the army in 1995 and has since retrained as a prosthetist.

Mr Gillespie, who now works for Pace Rehabilitation, took part in the swim last week which was the equivalent of 21 land miles from Dover to Cap Gris Nez, the headland halfway between Calais and Boulogne.

He and three more single-leg amputees took on the challenge to raise money for BLESMA: The Limbless Veterans, a national charity for all limbless serving and ex-service men and women, their widows and dependants.

Mr Gillespie said the experience will stay with him for the rest of his life.

He said: "The week-long final preparation, camaraderie and the challenge itself was an experience that will remain with me for the rest of my life.

"It certainly wasn’t easy and we never at any point thought that it would be.

"Each of us gave it our all, and as a team we delivered.

"What started off as serious business during the early hours of the morning soon turned into more light-hearted fun later during the day as we clocked up the miles.

"Despite lumpy conditions, morale remained high throughout.

"I’m still smiling as I recall myself trying to swim hard whilst ginger nut biscuits were being thrown at me.

"Already today, three days after the channel swim and still with some muscle ache, there’s talk of harder and colder challenges ahead."

Ex-servicemen Stephen White, 46, Conrad Thorpe, 50, and Craig Howorth, 46, swam with Mr Gillespie.

The four amputees adhered to the Official Channel Swimming Association (CSA) rules which include no wetsuits in water temperatures which average at 18°C for September.

They did not wear their prosthetic legs out of choice and swam in a relay.

To prepare for the challenge, the four trained at lakes and in the sea to get their bodies used to the colder temperatures and also took part in some open water swimming events, including the Chillswim Coniston in the Lake District.

In June the group completed a confirmation swim in Dover overseen by their CSA Observer, Giovanna Richards, to make sure that they were all fit enough to take on the challenge by completing a continuous swim in the sea lasting at least two hours - dispelling his initial concerns about how their stumps would react to the cold water.

The team have been fundraising through family, friends and contacts and are currently at £600, but hope to increase this total significantly.

Ian Waller, operations director at BLESMA, said: "Conrad, Craig, Jamie and Stephen have all been training so hard to prepare themselves for such a challenging event and we are so pleased that they are supporting BLESMA. The funds that they raise will go directly to helping BLESMA provide vital support to injured service personnel, and may even inspire some of them to take on such a physical and mental feat themselves."

To donate visit http://www.justgiving.com/stephen-white12