The allegations go back 20 years

More than 150 Masai women who live in the area around Dol Dol, near Mount Kenya, claim they were raped by soldiers mainly in the 1980s and 1990s.

A team from the Special Investigations Branch of the Royal Military Police flew out to Kenya on Sunday to investigate the claims, a UK Ministry of Defence spokesman told BBC News Online.

"The inquiries are ongoing," he said.

The team, which is due to return to the UK next week, is being led by Major John Wooldridge, according to the Kenyan newspaper the Daily Nation.

London-based solicitor Martyn Day is preparing to launch a civil action against the army for compensation for the women.

He is also in Kenya having made a number of trips there already to collect evidence over the allegations.

Civil action

The civil rights lawyer won a �4.5m settlement last year for the Masai people killed and injured by mines left on their land by the British Army.

He is demanding the MoD accept liability for damages for the injury caused to the women.

It is expected that the military police will interview alleged rape victims and local chiefs.

The British High Commission in Kenya has previously said no official complaint against troops has been filed.