THE father of a military policeman killed in an ambush in Iraq has spoken out over claims that his son will not be honoured by the military.

Lance Corporal Ben Hyde, 23, from Northallerton, North Yorkshire, was killed at a police station in Majar al-Kabir, in June last year.

His father, John, was among the relatives of six Royal Military Police (RMP) killed in the same attack who met with military officials 11 days ago.

During the meeting, they were told the six could not be given honours because there were no British survivors from the incident to give a recommendation to the commanding officer.

Mr Hyde said: "It is something we would all like to see because you cannot get more courage than those lads had.

"Faced with a mob, some of whom were armed, they could have shot 20 people and killed two guilty and 18 innocents, or held their fire. I know what I would have done in the same situation but those lads showed a lot of courage and did what they were trained to do."

An inquiry into the circumstances surrounding their deaths is under way.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence said: "The first batch of operational honours and awards were announced in November. That is for the initial phase of Operation Telic.

"We will continue to monitor that situation and further operational honours may be awarded in due course."