The families of two soldiers killed in Afghanistan six days before they were due home wept as they witnessed their final journey.

Major Matthew Collins, 38, from Backwell, Somerset, and Lance Sergeant Mark Burgan, 28, from Kirkby, Merseyside, died in an explosion last week.

Hundreds of people lined the High Street in Wootton Bassett to pay their respects.

Around 20 standard bearers lined the street, slowly lowering the standards as the two hearses pulled up to the war memorial. Silence fell and a bell tolled as people placed flowers, including red, yellow and white roses, on the top of the hearses carrying the coffins, draped in Union flags.

The men, who both served with 1st Battalion The Irish Guards, were killed last Wednesday when their vehicle was caught in a blast from an improvised explosive device.

The men were flown into RAF Lyneham where private ceremonies were held for their families before the cortege passed through nearby Wootton Bassett.

Maj Collins, who was commander of a team advising the Afghan army, leaves behind his wife Lucy and two children, his parents Derek and Tricia, and brothers Mark, Nick and Chris.

His family said he was "not only a soldier but a caring husband, devoted father to Freya and Charlie, caring son, wonderful brother and friend to many. We will all miss him and remember him always."

The two men were returning to base from an operation aimed at disrupting insurgent groups in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand province when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb.

The deaths took the total number of UK military personnel to have died since operations in Afghanistan began in 2001 to 362.