AN East Lancashire soldier is helping to train the new Iraqi police force to fight gun crime and help bring stability to the country.

Mark Whalley, 27, from Blackburn, a Royal Military Police corporal is one of six instructors based at Fort Apache, a police support unit south of Basra.

There, the officers are taught how to handle situations involving hostage-taking and kidnapping. They are also trained to carry out house raids.

Every three weeks, Mark is given a platoon of between 13 and 18 people to knock into shape and make them prepared for policing the tough streets of the stricken nation.

The area in and around Basra is perceived as a quiet region compared with the capital, Baghdad. But in recent weeks there has been evidence of growing unrest, according to Army officers.

Recently six people were killed when British forces dispersed a crowd of grenade-throwing protesters in the town of Amarah. In a separate incident forces shot dead another protester.

Despite this, Mark is surprised at the progress of the recruits.

He said: "They are doing very well. I did not expect them to be so disciplined . These guys can do a good job. You have to have patience because of the language barrier. But they are interested and keen to learn new methods.

"When we tell them about the rules on human rights, they tell us how the former regime carried out their work. Some of the tales are quite harrowing."

Normally based in Sennelager, Germany, the former Pleckgate High School pupil has completed tours of duty in Bosnia and Kuwait since joining the Army in 2001.