An Army officer and dad is to be posted to southern Afghanistan.

Captain Barry Alexander, 35, from Eastbourne, will leave for the war-torn country at the end of this month.

The nursing officer, of the Queen Alexander's Royal Army Nursing Corps, will embark with his unit, 4 General Support (Medical) Regiment.

He has previously served in Bosnia, Sierra Leone and Iraq where he has had to deal with cases of extreme trauma including mine strikes and gunshot wounds to soldiers and civilians.

The former Eastbourne Sixth Form College pupil said this would be his biggest challenge yet, but he was looking forward to it. He said: "I know it's going to be the most challenging time of my career. The intensity of battle is so much higher."

He added that he felt well-prepared and had been training since October.

Captain Alexander and his unit have been providing medical cover for the live firing phases of brigade level training in the border region of Otterburn in Northumberland, alongside other units from 12 Mechanised Brigade which they will become part of in Afghanistan.

As a medical section nursing officer, Captain Alexander will be responsible for providing and managing frontline medical support to combat troops stationed in the province.

Captain Alexander has two step daughters, Liberty, eight and Tamsin, six, and a ten-month-old son, Benedict. He said his wife Lisa was apprehensive about him going away but had been very supportive.