DORSET'S brave soldiers and sailors are being deployed all over the world as fears grow that Britain's armed forces are being stretched to breaking point.

The 1st Battalion The Rifles, which is largely recruited from Devon and Dorset, has recently returned from a six-month tour in Iraq, where one soldier was killed in a raid on suspected insurgents.

It is widely anticipated that the 550-strong battalion will be sent to war-torn Afghanistan later this year as Britain increases its forces in the region.

More than 90 reservists from 6th Battalion The Rifles, formally the Rifle Volunteers, are already in the lawless Helmand province supporting elements from 3 Commando Brigade.

And units from the Special Boat Service, which is based in Hamworthy, are also widely rumoured to be carrying out operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

But politicians in Dorset who have military experience fear Britain's armed forces are too small to fulfil the country's far-flung commitments.

New Forest West MP Desmond Swayne, who is a major in the Territorial Army, fears the "devastating" effect Britain's deployments will have on the soldiers' family life. And he fears the constant demand on British troops to play the role of international peacekeepers could have a detrimental effect on training, leaving the Army vulnerable next time it is asked to fight a war.

"It's going to become increasingly difficult to hold onto experienced soldiers and NCOs because their families are just not going to wear it," he said.

"At the moment it's almost back-to-back deployments. But whatever will be asked of the Army it will do and do well, which is why so much is asked of it."

The government has announced plans to withdraw troops from Iraq and Bosnia, but many of these will be deployed to Afghanistan, where British commanders have been crying out for reinforcements amid fears of a Taliban offensive in the spring.

Bournemouth East MP Tobias Ellwood, who was a Captain in the Royal Green Jackets, said military cuts must stop if the armed forces are to have any chance of meeting its obligations.

"In my lifetime as a soldier and a politician I have never seen the Army so stretched," he revealed.

"There seems to be penny pinching at every corner of the Army's budget."