THE parents of a Malvern soldier are anxiously waiting on events as their son joins the largest build-up of British troops abroad in 15 years.

Jacky Cooke received the briefest of phone calls from her son Adam Fleming this week, when the prospect of being moved north to Afghanistan was raised.

"He didn't say anything else, just that his credit was running out," said Mrs Cooke, who lives with her husband John in Newtown Road.

"It's very worrying. I've got friends who say nothing will happen but you know full well that America is not going to rest after what's happened.

"They say he is fully-trained and he's with the British Army. If nothing else, he's with one of the best armies in the world."

The 20-year-old former Chase school pupil has been in the Gulf state of Oman since July with the 23 Pioneer Regiment of The Royal Logistics Corp.

He has been helping prepare for Exercise Saif Sareea II, which was planned well before the atrocities in the United States and the current stand-off with Afghanistan.

Events have thrown the force into the spotlight when it comes to any military response.

"We would not discuss any operational plans but you can assume if there are 22,000 troops including acommando brigade and aircraft carriers almost alongside Afghanistan they must have to be factored into any possible equation," said an Army spokesman.

It was Pte Fleming's elder sister Claire, who also attended The Chase, who first made the family mark as a soldier until she was discharged following a leg injury.

He followed and joined up in 1997 and has already served in Canada, Kosovo and Norway.