AMONG the British troops seen on TV this week in Basra was Sittingbourne man, Cpl Mark Sims, of the Royal Marines 42 Commando. Cpl Sims, a member of a Sittingbourne martial arts club, was pictured directing two Marines into a presidential palace in Iraq's second largest city.

Martin Clarke, of the International Budo Federation and the British Combat Sombo Association who runs the East Street Sports Centre, said in an email to members and friends: "I feel very proud to know young men like Mark who are putting their lives on the line to make this a better world."