THE parents of Richard Hunt, the 200th British soldier to die in the Afghan war said this country is "failing miserably' to help injured and traumatised troops recover from combat.

Private Richard Hunt, 21, from Abergavenny, died in hospital two days after his Warrior vehicle hit an Improvised Explosive Device near Musa Qala and he sustained "unsurvivable injuries', an inquest into his death heard last week.

After the hearing in Birmingham, his mother Hazel said, "There are those who are coming back severely injured and they need an awful lot more help than they are getting. These boys and girls are taught to be resilient and not to rely on anybody so when they come out of the Armed Forces they are left to wallow on their own. It's a case of sink or swim and a lot are sinking."

Private Hunt died with his family at his bedside at Selly Oak Hospital, Birmingham, two days after being airlifted back to the UK. Mrs Hunt said, "As far as we are concerned we have lost Richard, which is the worst thing that can happen to any parent. Considering all the conditions and pay that go with the job, it's the least they deserve and at the moment it's failing miserably."

The inquest heard that Pte Hunt was driving one of the Warriors, a task he disliked but did without complaining, towards Musa Qala, Helmand, when it hit an improvised explosive device.

The inquest heard that his Warrior was following 15 other vehicles in established tracks to reduce the risk of hitting a hidden bomb.

Despite being repeatedly driven over by the convoy ahead of him, the device detonated as Pte Hunt negotiated a steep river bank, ripping out the underside of the armoured personnel carrier. It is thought it may have been a mine left over from when the Russians invaded Afghanistan. Army medics rushed to save the him but by the time he had been repatriated his condition deteriorated and he died from a massive brain injury.