TERRITORIAL Army soldiers based in Kidderminster have been honoured at a special reception with Prince Charles.

Men from the Fourth Battalion of the Mercian Regiment were invited to Clarence House after marching along The Mall and past Buckingham Palace.

The company of 100 troops, who recently returned from a gruelling six-month tour of Afghanistan, all met Prince Charles, the TA’s Colonel-in-Chief, as he presented them each with a tour of duty medal.

Captain Chris Hymas, of Kidderminster’s TA, said: “All the families were very proud of their sons and daughters. They all enjoyed it and it was a great day for all concerned.”

He added: “Something like this doesn’t happen for every regiment that comes back but Prince Charles wanted to thank them all in person. It’s a great honour for a TA soldier to meet him.”

One of the eight men from Kidderminster was Private Adam Josey, 25, who was joined at the ceremony by his parents, Ann and David. He spent two months in Camp Bastion, the British military base in Helmland and was then sent to help patrol the town of Basharan, near Lashkar Gah.

He explained: “Prince Charles asked me how I found the experience out there. I told him I enjoyed my time out there and that I am now hoping to take that experience and train to become a TA Officer."

The TA was responsible for protecting Camp Bastion and providing armed escorts for the helicopter medic teams evacuating casualties. They also supported the Welsh Guards Battle Group in Helmland’s “green zone”.

Sgt Mark Stout said the men were “very relieved” to be returning from Afghanistan, adding: “It’s a very demanding place, so they’re all obviously pleased to be back and safe.”

He went on: “They all want to continue in their course and they are looking forward to going on more operations in the future.”

The Fourth Battalion is based in Wolverhampton, with platoons in Stoke-on-Trent and Stockport, as well as Kidderminster.