SOLDIERS from Preston have been hailed heroes after a daring rescue mission in Iraq.

Pictures were splashed across the world as the soldiers, serving with the Queen's Lancashire Regiment, managed to free three Iraqi civilians, including a mother and daughter, from the wreckage of a collapsed building in Basra.

The troops worked with members of the city's fire service for two hours cutting their way through the wreckage. The three victims were taken to hospital for treatment.

The regiment also took part in a swoop on a market in Basra in a huge crackdown on guns and drugs on Tuesday night.

About 300 soldiers, mostly from Lancashire, surrounded the town's ancient old market, and stopped all movement in and out of the area, while teams checked all the stalls and shops.

The soldiers found a huge stash of weapons, including 35 grenades, 30 home made explosives, five machine guns, a number of bayonets and a bag of drugs. Lieutenant Colonel Jorge Mendonca, commanding officer, said: "The Queen's Lancashire's have achieved a great deal, not only finding and confiscating the illegal weapons and drugs, but also in showing the people of Basra that we are here to impose law and order and are more than capable of doing so across the whole town."

The QLR have been in Basra for several weeks, carrying out humanitarian work to rebuild the shattered town after the war. Hundreds of troops from the Lancashire regiment, based at Catterick, Yorkshire, flew out to Iraq last month after spending weeks training for the heat, and even learning Arabic.

During their four month mission they will also be helping keep the peace, and so far they have done everything from foiling a suspected smuggling ring to handing out pensions.