THE partner of a North-East SAS hero killed in a jungle rescue raid in Sierra Leone has been offered a £250,000 payment from the Ministry of Defence.

Anna Homsi, 31, mother of SAS trooper Brad Tinnion's 11-month-old baby, is to receive the ex-gratia payment after she was refused a war widow's pension.

Trooper Tinnion, 28, was shot dead last September during a mission to rescue 12 Royal Irish Regiment soldiers taken hostage by rebels. The couple, who were not married, were childhood sweethearts from the time they grew up together in Harrogate, North Yorkshire.

They had lived together for eight years and Ms Homsi was six months pregnant at the time Tinnion was killed in a gun battle during the successful rescue mission.

"It is not at all just about the money," she said.

"It was about having the rights of unmarried partners like me properly recognised.

"The suffering and sacrifice that many other people have gone through - and will go through in the future - is very real, but is still being ignored.

"That's why the law must be changed, and now more than ever considering the sad events in the world at present."

A Ministry of Defence spokeswoman confirmed an offer of an ex-gratia payment had been made.

She said: "I cannot confirm the exact amount because that it is a private matter between the MoD and Anna Homsi. We are waiting for a response from Anna Homsi herself or her solicitor."

Miss Homsi's legal representatives said no decision had yet been made whether to accept the offer, which is still only 50 per cent of the payment she would have received had she bee married.

At the time of Trooper Tinnion's death, Ms Homsi received a one-off payment of £20,000 and a grant of £2,000 a year for Georgia until she was 17 years old.

She threatened to sue the Government for discrimination under European Union law.

Trooper Tinnion joined the Army when he was 17, before he and Miss Homsi lived together.