Paramedics had to treat 7/7 victims using Sellotape

Sellotape and broken wood were used to hold a survivor's leg together in the aftermath of the 7/7 bus bombing, a rescuer told the inquest.

The unorthodox instant splint and stretchers made from tables grabbed from hotels were among several unorthodox measures taken during the emergency as rescuers used whatever they could lay their hands on.

PC Christopher Mitchell, one of the first police officers on the scene, described how he helped Mark Beck into a hotel for treatment after a No 30 bus was blown apart in Tavistock Square on 7 July 2005.

"His leg was in quite a bad way," he said. "Somebody got hold of some Sellotape. We used Sellotape and some bits of wood we found on the road to make a splint and we Sellotaped his leg together."

Doctors from the British Medical Association headquarters next to the scene of the explosion were told: "Pick a casualty and see what you can do." Some of the survivors were carried on tables to the BMA's courtyard.

Richard Collins, a commuter from Watford, told the inquest how he was trying to comfort a woman who had been severely injured when he was ordered to leave by a policeman. "I can't just leave her, she's dying," he implored the officer, but left because he didn't want to impede the emergency services. However, he spoke of his anger at the behaviour of an onlooker he spotted filming the scene of devastation on a mobile phone rather than trying to help victims of the bomb set off by Hasib Hussain.

Lady Justice Hallet, the coroner, told him: "As members of the public, I suspect we would all like to think that we would do what you did and run towards the scene to help rather than run away to safety. I'm not sure we all would react in the way you did."