THE funeral of a soldier shot dead in Afghanistan is being held today.

Warrant Officer Class 1 Darren Chant, 40, from Walthamstow, was killed at a police checkpoint on November 3 – the day he was due to be told he had been awarded a commission as an officer.

His funeral will be held today at the Guards Chapel at Wellington Barracks in central London.

The Walthamstow-born soldier was one of five officers shot by an Afghan policeman while behind a secure checkpoint.

He is survived by his wife, Nausheen Chant, who is due to give birth to their son in February, and three children from a previous marriage, Connor, 16, Adam, 11, and Victoria, nine.

Mr Chant had also served in Ireland and Bosnia and had risen to the highest possible level within his regiment, the First Battalion Grenadier Guards.

After the tour it was his aspiration to go to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst as Academy Sergeant Major.