CIRCUS worker Nigel Wesson told of the horrific moment a tiger ripped off his arm and said: "It was just one of those things."

Speaking from his bed at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, 32-year-old Nigel said: "He was going chomp, chomp, chomp after putting all his claws into it.

"When the arm came off you could hear it ripping with a crunching sound. It really, really hurt - the most painful thing ever."

The former riding instructor added: "The tiger was only doing what comes naturally. I wouldn't want him killed even though it quite wrecked my day."

Nigel had been at the Chipperfield circus family's winter headquarters at Heythrop, near Chipping Norton, for only 10 days before he was attacked by 25-stone Bengal tiger Rajah.

He was reaching into the cage to close a partition when Rajah struck.

He said: "The whole thing happened in 60 seconds. I just remember the noise and awful pain. After the arm came off, I staggered backwards, ran around the corner and shouted at one of the lads to put a tourniquet on it."

Nigel, with dad David and brother Kit at his bedside, said he had a soft spot for tigers: "I'd never worked with tigers before but I was building up a relationship with them. They seemed quiet, real softies. When Rajah got me at first I didn't know whether he was playing or what."

lAn advert for TCP throat lozenges showing a man being attacked by a tiger has been scrapped. It was withdrawn after Richard Chipperfield, 24, was mauled last month.

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