Bomb kills county man

Two other people are believed to have been injured. A Foreign Office spokesman said Government officials had been notified of Mr Sedgley's death after the blast on Sunday.

He said Mr Sedgley was working for a company called Olive Group - whose website is pictured here.

"The nearest centre to where it happened is a place called Dhi Qar," said the spokesman. "He died from a roadside IED, an improvised explosive device, and I think there were two other people in a car with him who suffered superficial shrapnel wounds."

The spokesman said Mr Sedgley was evacuated from the explosion site by American military forces and then flown to Kuwait. He said the security worker's body had been flown back to the UK.

Mr Sedgley is believed to have moved to Loppington with his partner about a year ago, from Codsall, near Wolverhampton.

Locals knew Mr Sedgley as a popular, fun-loving man. Today many of his friends were too devastated to talk about his death. He is thought to have been engaged.

Landlord Roger Downward, of the Dickin Arms, Loppington, said he believed Mr Sedgley had bought a property in the village about 12 months ago.

He said: "They were a very, very nice couple and used to come in the pub occasionally when he was home from Iraq."

Olive Group, which is based in London, provides security for workers building in Iraq.

William James, of Olive, said Mr Sedgley had worked for the company for "quite a while".

He said: "One of our employees, Richard Sedgley, was tragically killed on October 8 in a hostile incident while working in support of the international reconstruction process in Iraq. Our thoughts and condolences and support are with the family and friends."

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