A QUARTER of British servicemen and women in Iraq are from the North-East and North Yorkshire.

Among them are 140 part-time soldiers who have ordinary civilian jobs back home, but some of them are engaged in the most dangerous tasks out in the desert.

Life in the polluted wasteland was already tough enough, but when the shameful video of soldiers abusing Iraqis was beamed across the globe last week, the images made soldiers' jobs tougher.

Most of the 8,000 British troops are based in the southern part of Iraq -near Basra.

Lately, there have been fears that the violence that has dogged US soldiers around Baghdad is spreading south.

Last month, three soldiers died in a week - one in a road accident, another killed by a roadside bomb and the third, a victim of a sniper bullet. To date, 101 have died.

The North-East Territorial Army (TA) soldiers came out to Iraq in October with Cassino Company, the Fourth Battalion Parachute Regiment. They include solicitors and supermarket workers -and have been on escorting duties.

This involves travelling across southern Iraq in armoured convoys.

The soldiers lead the convoys, ensure the local traffic pulls off the road and scan the area for roadside bombs.

Cassino Company is stationed on the sprawling 14km-circumference Shaibah base, which was originally built by the British in the early 1900s.

In 2003, the troops moved back, but most of the old colonial buildings had fallen into ruin and are now condemned and sealed off with barbed wire.

The camp faces a daily mortar bomb threat, but morale is high.

Private David Lewis, 34, from Sunderland, has been called up four times.

He said: "I really enjoy the escorting, because it takes you beyond the wire and you get to see Iraq.

"It is part of the adrenaline rush, you do not know, anything could happen, but you hope that it is not going to.

"The danger is always in my mind, but you cannot really afford to think about it. If it happens, it happens. You have signed on the dotted line; this is your job.

"My family are really supportive and they have never seen me happier. This is what I am good at."

I joined Pte Lewis and the other TA soldiers on one of their convoys -a short trip from Basra Airport to Shaibah base.

Rifles loaded and ready, I huddled in the back of one of the armoured Land Rovers - with just a postcard-sized window to peer out at, as we left the wire.

Through my little view hole, I saw little to write home about, just rubbish strewn across the polluted desert, car wrecks, ripped tyres, concrete slabs, mounds of dirt -an endless vista of flat wasteland.

Although most of the recent British deaths in Iraq have been as a result of roadside bombs, the TA soldiers did not show any fear.

Lieutenant Paul McConnell, 33, from Tudhoe, County Durham, is ordinarily a PE teacher at a school in Peterlee. He wants people at home to know that life in Iraq is not as dangerous as they may think.

He said: "We have done 4,600 miles in the past eight weeks and there have been no attacks and no breakdowns. We have not even had to fire a shot."

Through my peephole, I saw small children waving, others throwing stones, drivers beeping in annoyance, and others willingly pulling over to let the convoy pass. And after about 20 minutes, we rolled into the base unharmed.

Lt McConnell said: "There is only a small percentage of the TA that has not been mobilised. I knew the call-up was coming, and in some ways it has been good; this tour has been very rewarding.

"People at home do not realise it, but a lot of the British Army out here are doing an excellent job, meeting locals, and learning Arabic. All people at home hear is the bad news."