AN MP in the Territorial Army has hit out after two soldiers died on exercise on the hottest day of the year.

New Forest MP Desmond Swayne, a major in the TA, said the deaths were tragic especially after the loss of servicemen in Afghanistan.

The two men were on an SAS selection exercise with four others on Sunday when they collapsed with heat exhaustion in the Brecon Beacons.

One of the men who died was named yesterday as 24-year-old maths teacher Lance Corporal Craig Roberts, who is believed to have served in Afghanistan.

Mr Swayne was on exercise himself this weekend near Folkestone.

He said organisers cancelled the six-mile trek in full combat gear due to the heat.

“Commanders always have to take into account that however fit their men may be, exceptional weather conditions take their toll on everyone,” he said.

“Clearly, whoever is in charge will have questions to answer. I don’t want to pre-empt any enquiry but there is an investigation into this and rightly so.

“At a time when we have been tragically losing men to enemies in action, we can’t afford to lose men to weather.”

Bournemouth East MP Tobias Ellwood paid tribute to the “courage and determination” of the two soldiers.

He said the young men were clearly determined to complete their training despite heat exhaustion.

But he warned organisers of such training that they must have “a responsibility to make sure enthusiasm and determination is kept in check”.

Mr Ellwood added: “It is clearly a tragic event. SAS training is the toughest in the world and sometimes soldiers spend 24-48 hours in complete isolation.

“It is very sad indeed.

“It is a tribute to them that they want to push themselves to such limits because we are sending these elite soldiers into extremely testing conditions throughout the world.”