The troops are flying out of RAF Brize Norton

About 1,000 British troops, from Essex and Suffolk, are on their way out to the Gulf.

The members of 16 Air Assault Brigade, based in Colchester and Wattisham Airfield, will be joining the military build up ahead of a possible war against Iraq.

The first of the flights transporting them left RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on Wednesday morning.

Britain is committing 42,000 military personnel to the Middle East region.

The 16 Air Assault Brigade includes two battalions of the Parachute Regiment, plus battalions and units from the Royal Irish Regiment, the Royal Horse Artillery, the Household Cavalry Regiment and the Engineer Regiment.

Its equipment includes 105mm light guns plus Lynx and Gazelle helicopters, according to a British ministry of defence website on Operation Telic, the codename for the British deployment for possible Iraq action.