AN ex-soldier from Malvern who travelled to Syria to fight Islamic State militants said "the world needs to open its eyes" to the danger posed by the militants.

James Hughes, aged 26, has gone to the war-torn nation with another former British Army soldier Jamie Read.

The pair have joined up with a 'foreign legion' of around 20 fighters helping the Kurdish Peshmerga in their battle against IS.

Mr Hughes - who served three tours of Afghanistan with the 2nd Battalion, the Mercian Regiment - left the Army this year after five years' service.

He told The Sun that a rise in backing for IS in the UK had been one of the reasons for his journey to the front line.

Mr Hughes said: "I wanted to help.

"The situation in England is getting bad in terms of the support IS get.

"The world needs to open its eyes to the threat they pose."

Mr Read, aged 24, who is from Cumbria, said he was compelled to act by the beheading of aid volunteer Alan Henning.

Dad-of-two Mr Henning - who went to Syria on a trip organised by Worcester-based charity Al-Fatiha Global - was killed by the masked militant known as Jihadi John in a video released online in October following a string of similarly publicised killings.

"Killing the aid worker was the final straw," he said.

"There is no justification for their executions - for putting innocent guys on their knees and doing that.

"My family were nervous and obviously worried about my well-being - we have gone into an unknown world.

"But I'm a firm believer that if you want to do something you have to do it and not just talk about it."

The duo embarked on a near-3,000 mile trip to reach the frontline at Kobani.

They flew from Manchester to Istanbul, before catching another flight to Irbil in Northern Iraq.

A convoy of 4x4s transported the men the to Kobani.

The Home Office has warned against travelling to Syria and said anyone who did so was putting themselves in "considerable danger".

A spokeswoman said: "The best way to help the people of these countries is to donate to registered charities that have ongoing relief operations, not by taking part in a conflict overseas, which can be an offence under both criminal and terror laws.

"People who commit, plan and support acts of terror abroad and seek to return to the UK will be prosecuted by the UK authorities.

"Whether a prosecution for an offence is justified in an individual case is a matter for the Crown Prosecution Service to decide after a full police investigation."

"Last month the Government announced a number of new anti-terror measures designed to combat the risk of IS radicals returning to Britain, including blocking suspected fighters entry to the UK."