A 28-tonne Warrior tank travelled through the streets of Sunderland yesterday. It looked like the tank was on serious manoeuvres - and in some ways it was. It had to get Private Wayne Mawston home for a cuppa with his mother.

Pte Mawston was driven through the terraced streets from the city's Bridges Shopping Centre to his mother's house, in the Millfield area of the city, as part of an Army recruitment drive in the North-East.

When the tank arrived at Anne Bainbridge's house, in St Mark's Road, the kettle was already on.

She said: "I knew it was coming - I could hear it a mile off before it got here.

"I am just very proud of my son and it's always great to have him home. Although I don't expect him to come in a tank next time he pops round for a cup of tea."

The 28-year-old soldier is back home as part of a ten-day tour of the North-East with the 1st Battalion of the Light Infantry.

The tour is designed to raise awareness of career opportunities within the regiment and the Army in general, and to give local youngsters a flavour of what a soldier's life entails.