This is the stunning image of a Royal Marine carrying a terrified child to safety while under fire in Afghanistan which won a Royal Navy photographer a prestigious award.

The picture, taken by Leading Airman Photographer Alistair Macleod, won the star prize at the annual Royal Navy Photographic Competition.

Impact shots of troops in action are constantly in demand by newspapers, and the Royal Navy trains a number of specialist photographers whose job is to supply such images.

Paul Delmar, head of Norton College Sheffield’s press photography and photo-journalism courses, was part of the judging panel for this year’s awards which also included Reuters picture editor David Viggers and BBC world news editor Anthony Massey.

The judges studied hundreds of pictures taken all over the globe by Royal Navy photographers, and by students at the Defence School of Photography in Portsmouth.

Some of the students had undergone specialised short-course training with Paul at Norton College.

Paul said of the winning picture: “This one had everything — a fantastic piece of work.”

He added: “The judging was not easy. There were over 400 pictures, many of them startling images, from recruitment shots and breathtaking landscapes to aerial shots and impact photographs of troops in action.”

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