AN urgent investigation was launched by British commanders last night after six Royal Military Police were killed and eight soldiers injured in two clashes in Iraq.

Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon told the Commons that the bodies of the six military police had been recovered from the town of Al Majar Al Kabir where they were involved training local police.

The deaths brought the total number of British personnel killed since the start of the conflict to 43.

Earlier in the day, troops from the 1st Battalion the Parachute Regiment patrolling the town came under attack from rocket propelled grenades, heavy machine guns and rifle fire from ''a large number of Iraqi gunmen''.

A quick reaction force, including a troop of Scimitar armoured vehicles and a Chinook helicopter, called in to assist them also came under fire.

Seven men in the helicopter and one man on the ground were injured in the fighting. The Paras' two vehicles were also destroyed.

In an emergency Commons statement, Mr Hoon told MPs: ''We are investigating whether there is any connection between these incidents.

''British commanders in theatre are assessing the situation and have been in contact with local leaders.

''I would certainly caution against reaching any wider conclusions about the overall security situation in southern Iraq in the UK's area of responsibility.

''Coalition forces have worked hared to secure Iraq in the aftermath of decisive combat operations. They will not be deflected from their efforts by the enemies of peace.''

The injured men were initially taken to the 202 Field Hospital near the city of Basra. The two most seriously wounded were transferred to the US field hospital in Kuwait.

There were, however, few details about the incident in which the Royal Military Police died.

Mr Hoon said that local information suggested they may have been involved in an incident at the police station in Al Majar al Kabir. ''We are obviously investigating the situation as a matter of urgency,'' the Defence Secretary said.

Al Majar al Kabir is 15 miles south of the town of Al Amarah in the province of Maysan, which borders Iran, at the northern end of the British-controlled sector.

Unlike the Americans further north, the British have encountered little in the way of resistance since the fall of Baghdad.

Commanders will now be seeking to establish whether the attacks were isolated incidents or the start of a concerted guerrilla campaign against the British forces.

Certainly the attack on the Paras appeared to be a well-organised ambush, but commanders on the ground played down suggestions that it was part of a wider uprising.

In Washington however, Pentagon officials said insurgents were ratcheting up their attacks on US forces, staging 25 in the past 24 hours alone.

* Part-time soldiers from throughout the North-East are heading to Iraq at the end of the month to join the peace support operation.

The 116 Territorial Army soldiers from County Durham, Teesside, North Yorkshire, Tyneside and Northumberland are completing pre-deployment training on the Warcop Training area in Cumbria.