A NORTH-EAST airman is working alongside US troops in a bid to find any hidden weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Chief technician Nick Pounder of the Royal Air Force Regiment is serving near Baghdad as part of the UK Joint Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (JNBC) Regiment.

Based at the Abu Ghurayb Palace, the regiment is working alongside the 75th Exploitation Task Force, from the US.

Much of their work is sensitive, trying to trace members of the old regime and seeking evidence that would prove the presence of weapons of mass destruction.

The JNBC comprises 80 per cent members of the Army's 1st Royal Tank Regiment, along with members of the RAF Regiment. Based at RAF Honington in Suffolk, it represents the UK's centre of excellence in nuclear, biological and chemical capability.

The team was sent to Iraq in February as part of a group tasked with finding evidence to justify military action.

Mr Pounder, 42, from Stockton, said: "We came in with the US marines into the South Ramaliah oil fields. We checked the pumping stations to make sure there were no booby traps. We crossed the border with five US marines and successfully secured the oil facilities.

"I miss everything from home - really everything we take for granted."

The former Richard Hind Secondary School pupil joined the RAF in 1977 and has served in Germany, Cyprus, Sardinia, Canada, Kosovo, Afghanistan and the Falklands.

His parents William and Marion live in Stockton.