A SOLDIER from Upton has told how he uncovered a deadly Taliban explosive with his bare hands.

Colour Sargeant Ben Cox had to dig with extreme care for 20 minutes with his fingers and a paint brush to uncover the device, which had been buried on a dusty road in southern Afghanistan.

Three more devices were found in the area over the next 10 days - all of which could have caused mass casualties to either the local population or to UK troops.

The 33-year-old former Hanley Castle High School student is a member of 2nd Battalion, The Mercian Regiment (Worcester and Foresters), based in Holywood, Northern Ireland.

The battalion is almost two months into a six-month deployment to the Helmland Province, where its primary role is mentoring and training the Afghan National Army.

The incident occurred when CSgt Cox found himself on patrol to a small local base.

Acting as ‘point man’, he came across an area that he felt could provide an ideal opportunity for an explosive device to be planted.

His suspicions were confirmed when he picked up a very strong indication on his metal detector.

“The Taliban try to blend in what they have buried with the rest of the ground but I saw something noticeable,” he said. “What you’ve been taught comes into action. You go through your drills, then start your fingertip search. A lot of stuff goes through you head then, as you can imagine. It took about 15 to 20 minutes to dig with my fingers and a paint brush until I found it.”

CSgt Cox then marked the area and a specialist team arrived the following day to remove it. The disposal team found another device and the same patrol team discovered two more 10 days later.

CSgt Cox added: “This is a busy junction used by the local population. It could have killed anybody.

“The way we see it every one we find saves lives. If that went off that would have taken a whole vehicle out. Imagine if those four devices had gone off - what kind of casualties?”

The Commanding Officer of 2 Mercian, Lieutenant Colonel Simon Banton, said the battalion’s quick reactions and use of correct equipment and drills undoubtedly saved lives.