An Oswaldtwistle councillor’s son has been seriously wounded while serving as a soldier in Afghanistan.

Doug Hayes confirmed that Captain Kevin Hayes has just been returned to the UK after being injured on duty on Sunday morning (August 15).

The exact details of the incident have not yet been released by the Army, but Kevin, 46, is currently in the critical ward at Solihull with damage to his chest, lung, and ribs. He has also lost his spleen.

Councillor Hayes, of Merlin Drive, was forced to cancel his council duties this week when he found out what had happened to his son, who serves in the 1st Battalion of the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment.

He said: "He is still in a critical ward, although that's common practice when they take soldiers back. We don’t actually know what happened yet. They have said he is very poorly and he has had a few bad nights and a few blood transfusions."

Kevin, who lives in Preston, is married to Helen and has two daughters Kelly, 23 and Megan, 18.

He has been in the Army since the age of 22 and is a veteran of three tours of Northern Ireland and also Bosnia.

Doug added: "His wife has had half an hour with him and his only concern was how the girls were doing. We were extremely worried, but at least my son had got a second chance as some of them don't get that. At least we have got him back now because we didn't know what was happening while he was out there. We know he's in good hands."