A soldier on his first tour of duty in Iraq has told of his part in seizing one of the biggest hauls of terrorist weapons found in the war-torn country.

Trooper Kyle Etherington, from Portslade, and his comrades uncovered enough components to make up to 42 roadside bombs as well as machine guns and ammunition in a raid on a house in the southern Iraqi city of Basra.

The 20-year-old former pupil of Hove Park School and St Nicolas' Church of England Junior School, Portslade, is serving with the Queen's Royal Hussars, Sussex's cavalry regiment.

His unit, A Squadron, made the find in the upstairs bedroom of a house in the Al Tuwaysa district and were part of a joint operation between Iraqi and coalition forces which led to the arrests of ten suspected criminals and terrorists.

He told The Argus: "When we arrived at the house we had the hard knock' come in.

"Then the troops all went into the house. I was first sent downstairs.

"Here we found some of the best stuff. There were two AK47s, a Glock pistol and ten batteries wired up for use as powerpacks for bombs.

"I'm very pleased. We were told that there were enough components to make up to 42 other IEDs (improvised explosive devices). Now they're off the streets to stop bombing us or anyone else."

One bomb, disguised as roadside debris, had been made only hours before the raid and was ready to be put in place.

Weapons, including rocket-propelled grenades, rifles, a sniper rifle and a silenced sub machine gun plus thousands of rounds of ammunition were captured. Military and police clothing was also found along with maps and documents.

Staff Sergeant Gary O'Donnell, an Army ammunition technical officer, said: "This was the largest quantity of equipment that we have found in one place.

"It was not new but was in good condition, in date and serviceable. It posed a considerable threat to our forces."

A Squadron left their 62-tonne Challenger Two tanks in their base at Paderborn, Germany, and have been using armoured Land Rovers as they patrol the streets of the city.

They are based in the Shatt al Arab Hotel in Basra City, as part of the Basra City Battle Group.

The raid on Friday night came as two British soldiers from the Queen's Dragoon Guards were killed and two injured by a roadside bomb - bringing the British military death toll in Basra to nine this month.

The deaths are a clear sign that rebel attacks are escalating in Basra, which was seen as relatively safe in the early months after the invasion.

Defence Secretary Des Browne described his "profound sorrow" at the deaths and pledged to keep the security situation in Basra under constant review.

He admitted that a recent surge in violence was a cause of "major concern".

Mr Browne said the British Army would examine a cache of explosive devices found at the weekend to help gauge whether the rise in violence was a "spike" associated with a five-month "hiatus" of political control since the elections in Iraq or a sustained increase.

Trooper Etherington, a former child mascot for The Albion FC, signed up for the Army as soon as he left school at 16. He first joined the Coldstream Guards but had to transfer when a ligament injury made it difficult for him to drill intensively. As a child he was a member of the Junior Seagulls football club.

He carried out his military training at Catterick, north Yorkshire, and carried out UN work in Cyprus before being posted to Germany for a year to train for Iraq. His unit left Germany in March. He said: "This tour in Iraq is an experience. It's fun in some ways, not so fun in others."

Trooper Etherington has been keeping in touch with his family by phone. One of his most harrowing moments was when his base camp was mortar-bombed earlier this month, injuring two of his colleagues.

Kyle's mother, barmaid Siobhan Lindsley-Leake, of Meadow Close, Portslade, said she had seen her son's experiences in the Army have a significant effect on him. She said: "He has changed a hell of a lot - from being a schoolboy to being a man."

She added: "He phoned me up and said, I might be in the paper. I was a bit worried. He is only 20."

Father John Etherington, a 45-year-old builder of Trafalgar Road, Portslade, said: "I am very proud of him but I hope he comes home soon."

Kyle has three sisters and a brother. His eldest sister Dee Cooper, 26, gave birth to her second child on Monday. Kyle is due home in October.