A MILITARY policeman from Darlington deployed to Iraq is preparing to help hand back power to the indigenous population.

RAF policeman and dog-handling specialist Corporal Mark Robson, known to friends as Robbo, is deployed on operations in Al-Basrah to support of Coalition Forces.

Cpl Robson is working on the Theatre Military Working Dog Support Unit, overseeing the patrolling of areas in and around the Contingency Operating Base in Al-Basrah.

The dogs are trained to detect hidden weapons, armament caches, drugs and insurgents who pose a threat to Coalition Forces.

"The troops on the ground depended on units like ours to keep them safe and to warn of any threat on the ground. The handlers and dogs patrol day and night and give 100 per cent in everything they do,” he said.

"However, as the situation in Iraq has improved and we are handing back control to the Iraqi authorities, our work here is almost complete.”

Darlington-born Cpl Robson, 36, who is married to Niki with four children, has operated in the Falklands, Germany and Cyprus and is usually based at the Defence Animal Centre in Leicestershire.

Cpl Robson, who attended Haughton Comprehensive School, added he has had an extremely satisfying tour in Iraq and feels privileged to have been part of the Coalition Force that handed Iraq back to the Iraqis.

"My job here requires a certain level of local knowledge and understanding to obtain the maximum effect of carrying out searches on and off the unit,” he said. "Most definitely the challenges that are presented in an operational theatre make the job out here very interesting."