A FORMER Elgar school pupil is helping to restore normality to the people of Sangin in Afghanistan.

Lance Corporal Mark Brooks, from St John's, Worcester, is serving with A Company the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters regiment on his second tour of the country - but his first in the southern Helmand province.

"It's not as I expected," he said. "The tempo of life is still very high but we have seen little trouble and this can only be a good thing. But we are very aware this can change overnight."

Three members of the Woofers have been killed in Afghanistan in a month but none have come from the two counties. The 25-year-old is the second in command of the resource section for the company and has been in Sangin for more than a month now.

Having served for more than five years since leaving Elgar Technology College he has travelled with the battalion to Northern Ireland, Belize, Kenya and Cyprus.

"I've served all over the world with the battalion but this is by far the most arduous tour I've been on," he said.

"Sangin has a certain reputation and can be a very volatile place but after recent successes it has become really quiet. This can only be a good thing as the locals live a type of poverty I have never witnessed before so I just hope we can help restore some sort of normality for them." L/Cpl Brooks will return with the battalion to Hounslow in London, in October after completing a six-month tour.

The battalion, which has been on public duties for the past two years, underwent an intense training package in preparation for the Afghanistan tour. This will be the last tour under the famous cap badge of the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters and the regiment will be called the 2nd Mercian Regiment in September.