Tim Robinson, 54, dragged his body across Seatown beach near Bridport, Dorset, after he broke his leg

An army veteran who crawled across a rocky beach for two hours after breaking his leg revealed he was saved after he exchanged Morse code signals with his wife.

Tim Robinson was walking along Seatown beach near Bridport, Dorset, where he was on holiday, when he slipped on some seaweed and broke his leg.

Mr Robinson, a sergeant in the Mercian Regiment of the Territorial Army, did not have his mobile phone with him, so he used a torch to make SOS signals through the misty weather to his wife, Paula.

The 54-year-old made one distress signal before crawling 50 yards and flashing another SOS.

After doing this three times he was relieved when a light in the distance made a similar signal in response.

When Mrs Robinson reached him at 6.30pm, she went to the Anchor Inn pub to raise the alarm.

Mr Robinson, who has been on two tours of Afghanistan and one in Iraq, said the incident was 'dramatic'.

The army reservist (left) was saved after he made Morse code signals to his wife with a tiny keyring torch (right)

He said: 'After I crawled to about a mile-and-a-quarter away from the car park and I started flashing my torch in SOS and spinning it over my head to create a Buzz-Saw signal which is a way of attracting helicopters in the armed forces.

'There was no response to begin with so I crawled for five minutes and covered about 50 metres before making the same signal three times.

'I kept on doing that and after the third or fourth time I saw a torch flashing back.

'It was my wife and she was shining the torch in a sequence in response to my signal. We got a routine going where I crawled for five minutes, stopped, signalled and she replied.'

Mr Robinson added the couple, who are from Hilton in Derbyshire, made the signals a further five or six times before they were able to shout out to each other.

He said: 'It was a big relief when she reached me because I was in a lot of pain and I wasn't sure how I was going to get out of this predicament.

'I had said a few prayers.'

Explaining how she discovered him, Mrs Robinson said: 'I saw a flicker of light and thought it must be him. But I picked up a rock, just in case it wasn't.'

Mr Robinson decided to walk along the beach so he could visit the Golden Cap - a beauty spot near to where they were staying.

Four hours after he fell, Mr Robinson was finally rescued by an RNLI lifeboat and taken to hospital

When he slipped over, Mr Robinson said even though his foot, which was dangling at a 45 degree angle, was causing him a lot of pain, the adrenaline kicked in.

He made some crutches for himself from some nearby tree branches and hobbled towards the direction of Seatown.

He added: 'You watch these survival programmes like Bear Grylls and think about what is around you to help you.

'I was hopping over rocks and shingle and it was very tiring and my foot was swinging about and hitting rocks so I decided to shimmy and crawl using my hands for support.

'I must have crawled for three-quarters-of-a-mile when I got to a mile-and-a-quarter from Seatown and started flashing my torch.'

Lifeboat and coastguard crews arrived on the scene a short time later at 8.30pm and ferried him to Lyme Regis on a beached lifeboat as no ambulances were available at the time.

Mr Robinson was walking along Seatown beach when he slipped on seaweed. His wife found him after seeing his torch light in the distance

He said: 'The coastguards and lifeboat guys were excellent and really professional. They kept my morale up and had a bit of banter when they found out I was an army reservist.

'When I got into the ambulance the paramedics tried to remove my hiking boot but the pain went through the roof and they had to give me an injection of morphine and then they could remove it.

'When they did my foot just flopped to the side in a horrible shape.'

Mr Robinson is now recovering in the Dorset County Hospital at Dorchester and is awaiting surgery on his leg.

Jon Broome, of the Lyme Regis Lifeboat, who was in charge of the rescue, praised Mr Robinson's efforts.

He said: 'He is a full-time Territorial Army guy and his military background came to the fore.'