THE Army last night defended its use of civilian cars after three Royal Military Policemen were killed during an ambush in Iraq.

Military investigators believe Saddam Hussein loyalists carried out the attack in Basra on the men, two of whom were based at Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire.

Warrant Officer Colin Wall, 34, from Middleton One Row, near Darlington, and Major Matthew Titchener, 32, both of 150 Provost Company, were attached to 19 Mechanised Brigade at Catterick. They were both married.

The third victim was Corporal Dewi Pritchard, 35, a Territorial Army soldier from Bridgend, South Wales. He was with 116 Provost Company, which is based in West Bromwich.

Yesterday, a fourth soldier remained in hospital in a serious but stable condition following the attack, which happened less than a fortnight after the death of another British soldier in the area.

The men were in a civilian four-wheel drive - part of an armed convoy of two vehicles - making a routine journey from their base through a main street in Basra.

Central to the military investigation is a Chevrolet pick-up truck. Unconfirmed reports said that gunmen threw a grenade at the soldier's vehicle after shooting them.

According to reports, the military policemen were travelling in the hired Nissan 4X4 because of a shortage of Army Land Rovers.

Northern Echo reporter Steve Parsley, who has just returned from Basra after being stationed with the 19 Mechanised Brigade, said concerns had been expressed that Iraqis appeared to be targeting the vehicles.

Because they are not open-topped and those in the vehicles are all seated rather than standing, it made it harder to respond quickly to enemy fire.

He added: "A lot of the soldiers feel the situation is now more dangerous than it was during the conflict as at least then they knew who the enemy was."

But an MoD spokeswoman said: ''The use of white fleet (civilian) vehicles was standard practice and could not have prevented the outcome of the attack.''

Saturday morning's killings are a second blow for the Royal Military Police (RMP), which suffered its worst casualty toll for more than 50 years in June, when six soldiers were killed in Al Majar al-Kabir.

Among the Red Caps who died following a gun battle in a local police station were Lance Corporal Benjamin McGowan Hyde, 23, from Northallerton, North Yorkshire, and 21-year-old Corporal Simon Miller, from Washington, Wearside.

Like those soldiers, Maj Titchener, WO Wall and Cpl Pritchard were training Iraq's civilian police force.

The bodies of the dead men are expected to be flown home in the next few days.

WO Wall had three children, two from a previous marriage, while Maj Titchener, from Southport had one child.

Doris Jones, who lives next door to WO Wall in Middleton One Row, said the whole village was stunned.

She said: "They are the most wonderful neighbours and Colin was the sort of person who do anything for anybody. My heart goes out to the family as this is such a waste of a life and so cruel.

"Colin and his wife, Tricia, had a little boy who was only a few months old. The little boy was the image of his dad. It is so, so sad."

Relatives at the detached house in a cul-de-sac were too upset to talk.

Neighbour and friend Lawrie Ridley said: "He was a gentleman, a very private man who liked going shooting with his dogs and the occasional drink.

"The whole end of the cul-de-sac here is just numb. His wife is devastated and has been in a terrible state."

Mrs Wall is also in the armed services, based at Catterick, and is thought to have left while she was having the couple's child.

Last night, at Catterick's Gaza barracks, where WO Hall and Maj Titchener were based, there was a sense of shock and anger.

The flag flew at half mast and wellwishers left floral tributes at the gates.

Local resident Paul Shepherd said: "More needs to be done to protect these men - it is shocking that they are being attacked and killed in this way."

At the RMP headquarters, in Chichester, West Sussex, where all three men would have undergone training, Brigadier Maurice Nugent said he was proud of the role the men played in working to resurrect Iraq's civil police.

An Army spokesman in Basra said ''We have a number of leads which we are following up."