On patrol in a part of Norfolk that is forever Afghanistan

WE are roaring down a deserted track, the soldiers clutching rifles tight against their body armour as our vehicle, a state-of-the-art Husky, rattles over the bumpy road.

To our right is a forest strewn with Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDS) and teeming with heavily armed insurgents.

As darkness falls, Regimental Sergeant Major Darren Szymanski of 3rd Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment, brings down the vehicle’s night vision screens while a soldier manning the machine gun turret scans the road ahead.

Suddenly, a shape appears and we screech to a halt. The startled eyes of a lost pheasant glint in the night vision cameras.

After a brief silent stand-off between the bird and the soldiers manning more than half a million pounds worth of Ministry of Defence (MoD) machinery, it regains its composure and scurries back under a bush.

It is a rare English invasion at the Stanford Area in Norfolk, where the MoD has created a miniature Helmand Province complete with nearly 300 Afghan nationals, a £14m village, specially planted green zones and forward operating bases replicating those where soldiers will be stationed during their tour in Afghanistan.

The exercise is run by veterans with recent experience of the conflict who throw everything at the soldiers from Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) strikes to suicide bombers, 24 hours a day.

The grass may be greener than Helmand and weather more temperate, but make no mistake about it - this is a war zone.