THE body of a Walthamstow-born soldier who was shot dead in Afghanistan is being flown home to Britain this morning.

Darren Chant, 40, was killed alongside four other servicemen when an Afghan policeman opened fire on them at a checkpoint last Tuesday.

Their coffins will arrive at RAF Lyneham, Wilts, along with that of Sjt Phillip Scott, who died in a blast on Thursday, later today.

Following a private service for the soldiers' families, a procession will then pass through the nearby village of Wootton Bassett, where hundreds of people are expected to line the streets.

Mr Chant's wife was 17 weeks pregnant when he died.

He also had three young children from a previous marriage.

Mr Chant, a Warrant Officer, had risen to the highest possible level within his regiment, the First Battalion Grenadier Guards.

He had a long army career, and served in Bosnia and Ireland.

The gunman of the shooting, which happened in the Nad Ali district of Helmand Province, fled the scene and has not been found.

On Remembrance Sunday a poppy wreath was laid in his memory at Walthamstow War Memorial at the town hall, Forest Road.