A TEAM of Burnley soldiers enjoyed some virtual experience of battle thanks to simulated trench warfare and laser guns.

Sniper Private Mick O'Keefe, 21, Lance Corporal Luke Hamilton, 23, and Private Ray McNally, 22, all from Burnley, joined 600 comrades from The Queen's Lancashire Regiment at Druid's Dance on Salisbury Plain for the war exercise.

The trio spent three weeks in cramped and uncomfortable conditions in trenches they dug themselves, on the lookout for the enemy and armed with hi-tech laser equipment which registered when they had become a battle casualty to help make the war situation more realistic. Private O'Keefe said: "I am a sniper and it's my job to take out key targets with precision fire.

"The exercise was really good -- the lasers make contacts more real because you can tell if you have hit a target.

"It's about as close to war as you can get and was definitely worth taking part in. I learnt a lot."

The soldiers also made use of their Saxon armoured personnel carriers to transport them round the battlefield.

The man leading them into battle was new Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel Jorge Mendonca.

He said: "The purpose of the exercise was to train the Battalion for warfighting operations as part of an all arms battle group involving not just infantry but engineers, tanks and logisticans."

The 1st Battalion is based at Catterick Garrison in North Yorkshire and is scheduled to go on a six-month operational tour of Bosnia, but they could also be called to go anywhere in the world at any time.

Former Ivy Bank High School pupil Private McNally added: "We are now ready to deploy on operations any time, any place anywhere -- we have proven our worth over the last few weeks and we are ready for anything."