ROYAL Engineers from Ludgershall have safeguarded the livelihood of thousands of Afghan farmers by digging irrigation ditches to prevent crops from drying up and decaying in the fields of Southern Afghan-istan.

The urgent reconstruction work by soldiers from 26 Engineer Regiment was carried out during a major operation by the UK-led Task Force Helmand and US paratroopers, to clear the Taliban out of the Sangin Valley, codenamed Operation Lastay Kulang.

The use of a British Army mechanical digger meant the simple task was completed in hours, rather than the days it would have taken the villagers using nothing but their own simple hand tools.

The urgent need of hundreds of villages sustained by the crops was established during a routine British Army patrol.

With the Taliban forces fleeing from the advancing troops the situation was deemed safe enough to bring up the heavy machinery of the Royal Engineers.

The irrigation ditch feeds about 24 square kilometres of ground and an estimated 5,000 families will get an improved water supply to their crops, which would otherwise have failed if the soldiers had not been there to provide help.

Around 320 soldiers from 26 Engineer Regiment are serving a six-month deployment in Afghan-istan with 12 Mechanised Brigade and are assisting with reconstruction and development.