Praise for hero who disarmed 139 bombs

Staff Sergeant Karl Ley, 29, has just returned to his home in Chapeltown, Sheffield, after neutralising 139 roadside explosives while serving with the British Counter-Improvised Explosive Device (C-IED) Task Force in southern Afghanistan.

During his six months in Helmand Province the father-of-three, who joined the army in 1999, saw four of his eight-man team of bomb disposal experts killed in action.

One of the fatalities was his close friend, Staff Sergeant Olaf Schmid, whose widow received the George Cross from the Queen this week on behalf of her husband.

Staff Sergeant Ley said that the roadside bombs were crude and "relatively easy" to defuse, but the big problem was locating them because there were now so many of them being buried.

The soldier has now been honoured by his local parish council, which invited him to its monthly meeting to present him with a certificate.

Ecclesfield Parish Council chairman, Norman Garratt, told him: "After hearing of your very dangerous work in Afghanistan we decided to mark your outstanding bravery with this presentation and we are very honoured to have you with us."

Staff Sergeant Ley, who is now based in Catterick, thanked the councillors and said his job is "not as glamorous as it is made out to be."

The C-IED Task Force are often the first troops to be involved in major operations as they help to clear routes for Afghan, British, American and other International Security Assistance troops attempting to free areas from Taliban control.