SOLDIERS of the Bulford-based 1st Battalion the Cheshire Regiment are getting used to life in Basra, after two months of their six-month tour in Iraq's second city.

Theirs is not always an easy task, as the heat and tension mount before the handover of authority from the coalition to the Iraqis at the end of the month.

The perception of Basra as a city on a powder keg, waiting to explode, is far from the truth, according to the Bulford soldiers.

Despite recent attacks on British troops, many members of the local population remain openly friendly towards the British Army, which is now beginning to see itself as part of the community.

Most Iraqis are too preoccupied with the day-to-day toil of life to start fighting the soldiers.

But if they are stirred up, the Cheshires are ready to meet the challenge head-on.

With their Saxon armoured vehicles, they give a touch of steel to the army's softly-softly approach that is winning the hearts and minds of many local people.

Last month, when the Mhadi tried to take over by setting up roadblocks throughout the city, it was the Cheshires who stood firm against them.

Short, running battles flared, as the insurgents took pot shots at the soldiers with rifles, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, before disappearing into the maze of narrow alleyways, using women and children as human shields.

But by the end of the day, the Iraqi police and the Cheshires had killed about nine Mhadi and injured a similar number and had regained complete control of the city.

Since then, British soldiers have continued to walk shoulder-to-shoulder with Iraqi shoppers through the maze of alleyways and streets.

For the Cheshires, the heat is a major problem.

Weighed down with weapons, equipment, helmets and body armour, they patrol in temperatures that can reach the high 60s.

Patrols can be as short as 45 minutes, or as long as two hours.

With typical humour, soldiers have labelled these patrols "Basra bead-ons", after the beads of sweat that rain from their faces.

At the end of the day, as the sun goes down, the soldiers can take a well-earned rest back in camp.

In a quiet corner, some use a volleyball court, while others work out in the gym.