A FORMER Gulf war serviceman today lifted the lid on life in Iraq after condemning shocking images of a British soldier torturing an Iraqi prisoner.

But a former commander of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment, Colonel David Black, has dismissed the photographs as having "too many inconsistencies".

He said the images were probably not even taken in Iraq.

However military investigators were today in Cyprus interviewing members of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment - many of whom come from East Lancashire - about the photographs and the alleged "torture" of Iraqi prisoners published in national newspapers.

Jason Smith, 32, of Worsthorne, today told of a 'laddish' culture in the army which is sometimes taken to the extreme by a minority of soldiers.

He spoke out after the investigation was launched by the Royal Military Police's special branch into the alleged torture.

The photographs, which appeared to show a hooded Iraqi captive being beaten, having a gun pointed at his head and being urinated on, were provided by two unnamed soldiers in the Queen's Lancashire Regiment. They said they were concerned that a 'rogue element' in the army was undermining efforts to win the hearts and minds of Iraqi people.

The Ministry of Defence said no comment on the allegations would be made by the Queen's Lancashire Regiment at this stage.

Jason who served with the Royal Engineers for eight years, said: "I think we will always find something that happens in war.

"Very often there will be a small group of people who will do something like this but it is completely unacceptable because of the psychological effects it has on the people they are bullying in one of the most extreme ways possible.

"A minority of people may have an extreme prejudice against the enemy and because they can't get home to see their family and loved ones this is their way of letting off steam.

"This kind of behaviour makes responsible soldiers look like they are all thugs similar to English hooligans at a football match which is not the case."

But Col Black said the vehicle shown was never sent to the war zone and the uniforms were not the same as those worn by the regiment.

He added: "In the evidence we have seen so far, looking at the photographs, there are too many inconsistencies."

The regiment is angry and dismayed by the allegations, he added.