ALL the nice girls love a sailor, so the song goes...

But for lonely hearts these days it seems their ideal man is a soldier - especially if he is from Lancashire!

For the army information office in Preston has been inundated with letters from unattached females from around the country seeking male pen pals from Lancashire.

Nearly 600 soldiers from the 1st Battalion Queens Lancashire Regiment are currently stationed in Bosnia.

And Sgt Pete Murray, a member of the regiment, is sure they will be delighted to hear from girls while they are so far away from home.

He said: "When you are stationed abroad it is always great to receive letters from home - especially if you're single.

"There are no social clubs and no television over there so you can feel a bit down at times."

If you would like to warm the heart of a soldier, the regiment information team will be only too pleased to hear from you.

Captain Stephen McQueenie, head of publicity for the regiment in Lancashire, would welcome any letters from Citizen readers.

He has promised to forward all letters to sensible candidates and says any reader who writes a letter can expect at least three separate replies.

Send letters to the Regimental Information Team, Kimberley Barracks, Deepdale Road, Preston, PR1 6QB.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.