A SMEATHARPE man has just returned from two months away helping humanitarian disasters.

Don Foster has been to Sudan, Vietnam and the Philippines, working with Christian Relief and development agency Tearfund, helping with radio communications for the agencies so that they can move around safely.

Mr Foster, 59, who worked for Somerset County Council social services, said: "I started out by going to Darfur in Sudan where I was putting in radio equipment systems so that the aid agency workers could go about their business in relative safety and could communicate with the base stations.

"The conditions were actually better that I was expecting, but still horrific.

For the full story, see the Wellington edition of this week's Somerset County Gazette.