A Royal Marine Musician from Wymondham has put down his instrument to work for the Ambulance Response team serving in the desert heal of Camp Bastion, Afghanistan.

Trained medic Christopher 'Minty' Lambert, 21, has been deployed to Helmand for six months where he is part of the ambulance troop taking casualties from the helicopter to the hospital and responding to incidents on camp.

He also drives the heavily armoured Mastiff vehicle on patrols around the province.

Minty, who attended Wymondham High School, joined the Royal Marines Band Service after school in 2006. He has served all over the UK and in the USA, Germany and Switzerland prior to his most recent deployment.

He said: 'This tour has certainly been the highlight of my career so far. I spent the last year training for it and being able to help the wounded gives me great satisfaction,

'It is completely different out here because this time last year we were playing to a sell-out stadium in Basle, Switzerland.'

Although missing his parents Brian and Susan, sister Rachel and girlfriend Helena Davey, Minty added: 'I'm loving the tour, through the good times and the bad. The camaraderie is second to none, but I'm looking forward to coming home and seeing everyone again.'