That unenviable task is carried out day in and day out in southern Afghanistan by Buxton soldier Private Jordan Beech.

Jordan serves in 1st Battalion The Mercian Regiment (1 MERCIAN) and is currently on a six-month tour in Wishtan — an urban area in the Sangin district of Helmand province.

As part of 4 Platoon, A Company, it is 19-year-old Jordan's job to check the route for Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) with his Vallon metal detector while out on 12-man patrols.

Now halfway through his tour, Jordan - known as 'Beechy' to friends - said: "We go out on foot and in vehicles to reassure the local population, and to show our presence on the ground to disrupt the insurgents.

"If it's a vehicle patrol, I am the grenade machine gun operator. This helps us to suppress the enemy and stop them firing at us, but it is very loud!"

Jordan added: "I prefer patrolling to our other duties. There's more variety and you get to meet people. Those weeks pass much faster.

"We aim to interact with the locals when we are out and about, but the enemy don't always cooperate and we end up engaging in a fire-fight.

"When that happens, the adrenaline just streams through your body and the time goes very fast."

At the start of their tour, A Company were living and working alongside the Afghan National Army (ANA).

While they have now moved into a different base, they still regularly patrol with the Afghan National Security Forces in a partnering role to pass on tactics and soldiering skills, which will eventually allow the Afghan forces to take over the security of their own country.

Jordan joined the battalion last year, having completed his basic training in Catterick, North Yorkshire. This is his first operational tour.

He said: "It has been different to what I expected - but in a good way. It's certainly not a normal way of life, though!"

He is looking forward to being reunited with his father Paul and stepmother Joanne in Buxton when the battalion returns to the UK in the autumn.