A woman who helped injured children in the aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing has said she is “angry and upset” that it took so long for paramedics to reach the victims.

Kim Dick was outside the Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena in May 2017 waiting to collect family members when the bomb went off.

It was detonated by suicide bomber Salman Abedi in the City Room foyer as the show was drawing to a close but initially Mrs Dick thought the explosion may have happened in the arena itself.

“I feared everyone inside had been killed,” she told the inquiry into the attack.

As it became clear what had happened and that so many people had suffered serious injuries, Mrs Dick went to comfort and care for two young girls she didn’t know and who were badly injured.

“I was shouting for help,” she said in her written statement.

“People were in total panic as they ran out of the exit on to the walkway and down the staircase. I was still shouting for help but there was nobody there.”

Eventually, an armed police officer crouched down next to her and whispered that they were still checking to see if there was a risk of another explosion.

Arena staff then brought a first aid box but there was another wait before professional help arrived.

“What I am not happy about is the length of time it took for the emergency services to get help to us,” Mrs Dick said.

“I am angry about this and so upset that it took in excess of an hour before any paramedic or medically trained person attended the girls to check on them.”

Another man who helped the casualties was hailed as a “hero” by the inquiry’s chairman.

Daron Costor, who served for 22 years with the Royal Military Police, used his battlefield training to help triage those injured.

He described how people used belts and handbag straps as makeshift tourniquets to try and stem the bleeding from some people’s injuries.

Mr Costor, who was picking up his son from the concert, spent an hour in the City Room helping survivors and described how a police officer also improvised to help save people’s lives.

“She had some of the T-shirts from the concession stand and they were using them to apply pressure to wounds,” he said.

He then spoke to the families of some of the people he was helping on their mobile phones to reassure the relatives that their loved ones were still alive.

Inquiry chairman John Saunders told him: “You’re a hero. You did an amazing job and I’m sure everyone is very grateful for what you did.”

The inquiry continues next week.

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