Staff Sgt Kim Hughes speaks with Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth, right, and Home Secretary Alan Johnson, centre, in Camp Bastion, Helmand Province, during a joint visit by the ministers to Afghanistan.

A Shropshire bomb disposal hero put the Defence Secretary on the spot during a visit to Afghanistan by calling for more troops to boost stretched frontline services.

Staff Sergeant Kim Hughes was introduced to Bob Ainsworth midway through a tour of Helmand Province with Home Secretary Alan Johnson.

When Mr Ainsworth asked him what he needed most, Staff Sergeant Hughes – hailed by comrades for his expertise in disarming Taliban explosives – replied: “More troops on the ground.”

“People?”, continued Mr Ainsworth, to which Staff Sergeant Hughes replied: “Absolutely, more troops.”

“Not equipment?”, asked Mr Ainsworth.

“More equipment’s ideal, I mean we have lightweight equipment coming in gradually,” the soldier replied.

“But more troops on the ground, more equipment, less troops on the ground, less equipment.”

He added: “If you give us more troops, we can form a counter-IED (improvised explosive device) taskforce to train ground troops better.”

Mr Ainsworth said troop reinforcements was a shared responsibility between coalition forces and would take some time to deliver.

Commenting on the exchange, later, Staff Sergeant Hughes, who is just days from returning home to his family in Shropshire after a six-month tour, was unrepentant.

He said: ‘What was he going to do, send me home? It’s been a ridiculously busy, ridiculously hard tour.

“We have lost two guys. Clearly more troops are needed on the ground – but then the same could be said for equipment. The teams are stretched. Ideally you would have more equipment and more troops – that would help a lot,” he added.

The incident highlights the growing rift between the armed forces and ministers on Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, sports legends Andrew Flintoff and Gary Lineker were caught up in a Taliban attack as they made a troop visit in Afghanistan, it emerged today.

The cricket hero and TV presenter were in a forces dining room when an alarm warned of rocket fire – sending them and the other soldiers diving for cover.

By Wayne Beese