A decorated Westcountry sailor who risked his life to rescue three men in rough seas has sold his George Medal for £4,000 so he can send his wife to visit her grandchildren abroad.

Terry Loftus, from Plymouth, was awarded the medal in 1979 for fearlessly jumping into the Bay of Biscay after a freighter sank in savage seas.

But Mr Loftus, who at the time was a Leading Seaman on Devonport-based HMS Jupiter, wanted to sell the medal to help pay for his wife to travel to South Africa to see her grandchildren.

The George Medal is handed out in recognition of "acts of great bravery".

The medal was auctioned on Saturday along with the sailor's Queen's Silver Jubilee Medal, a Northern Ireland campaign medal and other memorabilia. Mr Loftus said he said he wanted to give his wife Dulcie, 62, the opportunity to see her relatives in Johannesburg before she goes into hospital for a scheduled operation.

He said the medals were "just getting old and rusty" and that the money would be more useful for his family.

And despite the amazing accounts of his bravery that day the 57-year-old, who is retired, added: "I didn't think twice about it. It was a daunting day but it was just something that happened. I didn't think it was too clever."

At the time of the dramatic rescue, Mr Loftus was swimmer of the watch when his ship, on her way to Gibraltar, received an SOS signal.

They went to the rescue of Greek freighter MV Iris, whose 28 crew had abandoned ship in a Force Eight gale.

Mr Loftus made four consecutive jumps and saved three lives. The last jump saw him recover the bodies of four dead seamen.

Following his actions he also won the Man of the Year 1979 title ahead of astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, athlete Seb Coe, singer and DJ Jimmy Young and Welsh rugby player JPR Williams.

Auctioneer Paul Keen, of the Plymouth Auction Rooms, said his client had been "very pleased" with the £4,000 sale to a local bidder.