​He is used to role-play with the children he looks after, but Ben Morris became a real life hero when he saw a pensioner stumble and fall in a Gloucester park.

The team leader of Play Gloucestershire’s play rangers sprang to help the Alzheimer’s sufferer after spotting him in Tuffley’s Seventh Avenue park.

Once the care of the elderly man and his wife had been entrusted to paramedics, Ben even took it upon himself to walk the couple’s golden retriever home.

He said: “We were just setting up when I saw the lady walking through the park with her husband and dog.

“The gentleman seemed to suffer a funny turn so I went over to help. We had our play tent set up so we sat him down in there and called an ambulance.

“But when it got here to take him home, I realised the dog wouldn’t be able to get in it. So I volunteered to walk it home.

“It was only about a 15-minute walk and I think the lady was grateful. I just wanted to help.”

After checking the couple had got home safely after the incident on Friday, Ben returned to his day job.

Ben, who has worked at Play Gloucestershire for nine months, organises sessions for children aged between eight and 16 in parks across the city.

The Podsmead charity secured Lottery funding two years ago to pay for trips to areas classified by Gloucester City Council as highly deprived.

Ben and his team encourage youngsters to keep active with a range of sports equipment and dressing-up gear.

He said: “It is all about getting them to come out and reclaim their parks.

“A lot of kids are scared to come to their local parks now because of the reputation they may have or the sort of people who hang around in them.

“What we do is show up with our van full of stuff and offer it to the children for free. They can play cricket and football and lots of different sports.

“It’s important to do stuff which they can still do when we are not there, so we don’t have any fancy equipment. It’s just the basics.”