A war hero who had a design of his Victoria Cross medal tattooed onto his back has claimed it caused him more pain than being blown up in Iraq.

Lance Corporal Johnson Beharry was struck by a bullet as he guided a Warrior armoured convoy through the flashpoint town of Al Amarah in southeastern Iraq in 2004.

A month later, the young soldier saved more lives in a second ferocious exchange and suffered serious head wounds in a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) assault that left him in a coma.

Iraq war hero Johnson Beharry after receiving the Victoria Cross in 2005

He was awarded the highest military honour the following year, becoming the first living soldier to receive the award in two decades.

It was the first VC awarded since Lieutenant Colonel H Jones and Sergeant Ian McKay received posthumous awards after the Falklands War against Argentina in 1982.

The tattoo took six months to create and the L/Cpl said the pain was so great he simply had to 'grit his teeth and think of the British Army.'

"Having this tattoo was the worst pain I have experienced in my life. I suffered more for this than in the blast", Beharry told the Sun.

"At last I feel the medal is part of me"

His local tattooist, David Groves, said: "It was a dream job for me."

Born on the Caribbean island of Grenada, the former construction worker came to the UK in August 1999.

He enlisted in 2001, serving tours in Iraq, Kosovo and Northern Ireland. He joined only 13 other living holders of the prestigious VC medal.