Soldiers from Swindon's local Army regiment have received a warm welcome from local people after arriving back in Kosovo to take up peacekeeping duties again.

They were called into action following fresh outbreaks of ethnic violence between Albanians and Serbs, which left more than 20 people dead and hundreds injured.

The violence started in the ethically divided city of Kosovska Mitrovica where Albanians went on the rampage after blaming local Serbians when two children drowned.

The trouble quickly spread to other towns and villages, but, since those from lst Battalion The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment arrived in the capital Pristina this week, there have been no further outbreaks of violence.

And senior military officers have praised the sheer professionalism of the soldiers in taking over their new duties.

"Within six hours of arriving in Pristina, soldiers from the RGBW were out on patrol it was an extremely impressive and smooth operation," said Lt Col Peter Appleby, a spokesman for the Nato-led Kosovo Peace Implementation Force in Pristina.

"The local people were delighted to see them.

"These men are very good at talking to and getting on with the people they meet out in the community and they have really calmed the situation down which, of course, is why they were sent out here."

Soldiers from the RGBW who recruit many from the Swindon area form the bulk of the 750-strong UK Spearhead Battalion which flew out to Kosovo over the last few days.

They were deployed to assist the suppression of continued violence and to reassure the local population following what has been the worst ethnic violence between Albanians and Serbs in Kosovo since the end of the 1999 war.

Also deployed with the500 soldiers from the RGBW are a company of Ghurkhas and a company of Grenadier Guards.

Lt Col Appleby said the main RGBW base is outside Pristina but the soldiers are responsible for looking after an area of the city and some of its suburbs.

The duties they are carrying out include foot and vehicle patrols and manning check points.

Many of the RGBW soldiers have already served in Kosovo.

Back in 1999 I spent several days with the 120 men of the Regiment's Imjin Company as they carried out a peacekeeping role across a large chunk of Pristina as part of KFOR.

At that time the officer commanding was Major Nick Welch who has since been promoted to lieutenant colonel and is now the regiment's commanding officer.

During my time with the soldiers I was impressed to see how well they got on with the various ethnic groups they had been sent to keep apart.

With their friendly but firm goodwill and commonsense they were able to defuse many potentially dangerous situations and undoubtedly saved many lives.

And that's why the boys of the RGBW are being welcomed back again on to the streets of Kosovo.

An office administrator I was able to talk to in Pristina told me on the telephone "I saw your boys outside my office and everyone is glad to see them.

"They walked through the town with me and a Serb woman friend last night and we felt very safe. They are very welcome by everyone."

Martin Vincent