The bodies of two fallen servicemen, including a Blackburn man, are due to be repatriated to the UK today.

Lance Corporal Jonathan James McKinlay, from 1st Battalion The Rifles, and Marine David Fairbrother, from 42 Commando Royal Marines, will be flown into RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.

The double homecoming will take place in Carterton, the first in the town since repatriations were moved from Wootton Bassett in Wiltshire.

A private ceremony for the families will be held at a purpose-built repatriation centre on the airbase before the cortege leaves via the newly-restored Britannia Gate, then makes its way to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.

The cortege will be escorted at walking pace past the memorial garden, where the union flag will be hung at half-mast and the public is expected to gather.

L/Cpl McKinlay, 33, was killed in Afghanistan on September 14 by a burst of small-arms fire while on patrol with his team.

The team was with members of the Afghan Uniform Police in a village near to his checkpoint in the Nahr-e Saraj (South) district of Helmand province when they came under attack.

Royal Marine Fairbrother, 24, was shot on Monday two hours into a patrol in the same area.

The Ministry of Defence said he and fellow marines were with members of the Afghan National Army when they were ambushed.

L/Cpl McKinlay, a father of one and stepfather of two from Darlington, was known as an outgoing and friendly commander who was said to have had time for everyone he met.

Marine Fairbrother, from Blackburn, was described by his mother as a "devoted, beautiful and giving son".

The deaths take the number of British troops who have died since operations in Afghanistan began in 2001 to 382.