FORMER soldiers from the region who served in Bosnia and Kosovo may be suffering from illnesses linked to the effects of depleted uranium munitions fired during the Balkan conflicts, it has been claimed.

Some have been stricken with leukaemia, brain tumours and stress-related illnesses which have left GPs puzzled, according to the Royal British Legion's Cumbria field officer Lt Col Stephen Overton.

He said he could not give exact numbers or name individuals because they had asked for their details to remain confidential.

The legion has welcomed government plans for a screening programme for tens of thousands of British troops who served in the Balkans over the past eight years.

Veterans are to be offered health checks to see if they have suffered from the effects of depleted uranium munitions.

Lt Col Overton described the programme as a step forward, though the legion wants a public inquiry into possible links between troops' illnesses and the effects of depleted uranium.

The government announced the voluntary screening programme amid growing concern about the possible health risks posed by depleted uranium ammunition used in both Balkan countries.

Ministers had previously said there was no risk to servicemen.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said it was impossible to say how many existing and former members of the King's Own Royal Border Regiment had served in the Balkans.

"We will make a decision on what will be the most appropriate screening programme.

If they (servicemen) served in the Balkans, then they will get access to whatever programme is offered in due course," he said.

The First Battalion of the King's Own Border Regiment, which recruits from Cumbria and North Lancashire, served in Bosnia as part of the NATO peace force during the 1997/98 winter and carried out peacekeeping duties on the Macedonian border with Kosovo during the conflict in 1999.

Meanwhile, Liberal Democrats have called for a complete ban on testing of depleted uranium shells at the Eskmeals firing range in West Cumbria.

The party's county council leader David Baxter made the call in the wake of disclosures that uranium shells had been fired from Eskmeals into the Solway Firth.