THE body of fallen South Devon soldier Corporal Stephen Thompson is expected to return to the UK today.

The family of the 31 year old from Bovey Tracey, who was killed in Afghanistan on Sunday, are expected to travel to RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire to see him flown home.

His body will be flown in on an RAF plane and his coffin, draped in a Union flag, unloaded by soldiers, understood to be six of his best friends.

In the afternoon, a funeral cortege will travel through the town of Wootton Bassett where local people and members of the Royal British Legion will line the street to pay their respects.

Cpl Thompson, of the 1st Battalion The Rifles, was killed by a roadside bomb while on patrol in the Sagin area of Helmand Province.

He is a former pupil at Chudleigh Knighton Primary School and Teign Valley secondary school and the father of a seven-year-old son, Ewan.

His mother Carol has described him as a 'hero' who died doing something he loved.

He volunteered for action in Afghanistan after serving for 13 years in the army. His career had seen him serve on HMS Exeter, in Belize, Northern Ireland and complete a tour of Iraq. He had spent the last two years as an instructor in Catterick.

As well as his son he leaves sisters Helen and Clare, brother Philip and father Peter.

Cpl Thompson will be one of five soldiers repatriated today.