A SERVICEMAN, captured in Iran, has spoken of his relief at being back home.

Corporal Chris Monan, 26, was one of eight British servicemen detained by Iranian forces last month after their three small patrol boats apparently strayed into Iranian territorial waters.

During their three-day ordeal, the men, who are all now back home, were blindfolded and subjected to a mock execution.

"It's good to be back," said Cpl Monan, of Marske, east Cleveland.

"I'm glad to be at home with my family and able go out and enjoy a drink with my two brothers, Steve and Kevin, my friends, Neil and Rob, and a few others.

"It's really relaxing. I'm going back to work on August 2, but I'd rather not say whereabouts."

The unit's troubles started onJune 21, as the eight men made their way in three craft from the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr along the 120-mile Shatt al Arab waterway, dividing Iran from Iraq.

The servicemen - six Royal Marines and two Royal Navy sailors - were transporting a combat support boat.

They were approached by two unmarked boats carrying about 16 armed men in uniform, followed shortly afterwards by two speedboats carrying a further six armed men.

Their captors were Revolutionary Guards, an elite military unit who answer only to Iran's leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The Britons had their weapons removed, were blindfolded with dirty rags soaked in petrol, taken to a small room and made to sit cross-legged against the wall.

They were questioned through an interpreter and told they would be tried as spies.

At one stage the men, who feared they could be beheaded, were blindfolded and marched into a ditch, each with one hand on his head and the other on the shoulder of the man in front.

There, they were subjected to a ten-second silence, during which time they were sure they were going to be shot.

The eight, who also included Chief Petty Officer Robert Webster, a Royal Navy reservist, of Denton, Newcastle, were finally released after talks involving Foreign Secretary Jack Straw led to Iran accepting that they had strayed into its territorial waters accidentally.