A MOTHER whose soldier son is fighting in Afghanistan has supported calls for British troops to be brought home.

Angela Rodway, 41, is the proud mum of Stewart, 20, from Westcliff, who is currently serving on a six-month tour with the Royal Anglian Regiment in the notorious Helmand Province.

But she was deeply saddened by the news three Grenadier Guards and two members of the Royal Military Police were shot dead this week.

They died at the hands of a police officer who entered their secure compound in Helmand Province.

Kim Howells, former Labour minister and chairman of the House of Commons intelligence and security committee, has also called for a withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.

Mrs Rodway agreed with him. She said: “I don’t like it.

“I think it’s wrong they have sent our troops out there fighting a war, which was not our war in the first place.

“It was the Americans who had the quarrel with al-Qaeda and I don’t think it’s right that we should be clearing up their mess.

“I have the utmost respect for the bravery of my son and the other British troops, but I struggle with the cause they are fighting for.”

The soldiers killed at the compound in Nad-e-Ali were Grenadier Guards members Sergeant Matthew Telford, 37, from Grimsby, Guardsman James Major, 18, from Cleethorpes, and Warrant Officer (1st Class) Darren Chant, 39, and also Acting Corporal Steven Boote and Corporal Nicholas Webster-Smith, 24, from Pembroke-shire, of the Royal Military Police.

Eve Strike, 49, from Vange, mother of another Royal Anglian Regiment soldier in Afghanistan Private Iain Strike, 25, preferred to keep her views on the war to herself.

She said: “I am not going to comment on whether or not they should be out there.

“However, my heart went out to the families of the five soldiers who died.

“The day it was announced was terrible for my family, because it brought home how dangerous the situation is out there.

“It could have been any one of us who got that knock on the door.”