A MASSIVE Army exercise stretching almost the length of England started in Wiltshire on Tuesday.

Around 2,000 troops, 620 vehicles, helicopters and aircraft are involved in Exercise Eagle's Lift.

The exercise has begun on Salisbury Plain and moves hundreds of miles up to the Army training area in Otterburn, Northumberland, early next week.

The Army said it was a realistic test of moving man and machines over large distances.

The exercise also includes smaller combat exercises for troops, including drops by the 1st Parachute Regiment.

Part of the exercise centred on the ghost village of Imber on Salisbury Plain, which was evacuated before the start of the Second World War and is now used by the Army for urban warfare training.

Troops stormed buildings and soldiers in Land Rovers drove through the village as part of the exercise.

Chinook and Lynx helicopters and the RAF's Hercules transporter planes were being used for the drops of troops and equipment.

The flights filled the skies over west Wiltshire on Tuesday as the pilots pinpointed targets and drop zones and circled waiting for their turn to take part in the practice missions.

Army spokesman Captain Steve Vaid of 16 Air Assault Brigade said the exercise was not connected to any possible military action against Iraq.

He said: "We have been preparing for this exercise for the last two years, so no, it is not related in any way whatsoever.

"People ask us if things like this are intended so we can get it right should we go. But we have not been told anything, the Government has not made any decision and we are always striving to be best at doing our job. That's what this is about.

"It is a massive exercise and will involve the RAF and Army working together."

Troops involved in the Salisbury Plain exercise will make their way north to meet up with the Army Air Corp in Northumberland for the second part of the exercise on Monday .

Last month, 6,000 regular troops and Territorial Army reservists were involved in another massive exercise which crossed Wiltshire.

They moved equipment and supplies to an RAF base in Suffolk and Marchwood, the Army's logistical port near Southampton.

The equipment, which included medical supplies and clothing, were left for easy transportation to a war zone.