A NEW accommodation block for junior soldiers has been built that allows troops on deployment in Afghanistan to leave their belongings at their home base.

The single living accommodation block at Marne Barracks, in Catterick Garrison, will provide a home for 70 soldiers during their training periods in the area.

The housing block was built from pre-constructed modular units and constructed at the site in under 12 weeks.

Previously a shortage of accommodation for troops in Marne Barracks meant that soldiers going to Afghanistan had to fully vacate their rooms, where they may have lived for almost two years, to allow soldiers returning from theatre to use the space.

Major Karl Trevelyan, of 5th Regiment Royal Artillery, said: "The new accommodation for the regiment has enabled soldiers to have an excellent standard of accommodation while in the UK.

"It has also enabled the Regiment to guarantee soldiers a permanent home within Marne Barracks. Before the provision of this facility our soldiers were forced to pack up their belongings prior to deploying with a guarantee that when they returned they would be accommodated somewhere else in the barracks."

The new building also provides soldiers with shared common rooms, kitchenettes and utility rooms.