A British soldier was killed by an explosion in southern Iraq this morning, the 100th British serviceperson to die since the invasion almost three years ago.

Corporal Gordon Alexander Pritchard, 31, who served with the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, died after the blast at 8.34am local time (0434 GMT) in the port town of Um Qasr, in Basra province.

The Ministry of Defence said that three other members of the 7th Armoured Brigade were hurt, one seriously.

Um Qasr was one of the first places in Iraq to be captured by Allied forces in May 2003. The grim milestone of the 100th soldier to die has prompted fresh calls for the British government to set a timetable to withdraw its troops.

John Reid, the Defence Secretary, said that Corporal Pritchard's death marked an appropriate moment to remember the sacrifice being made by the troops and their families. A spokesman for Tony Blair emphasised, however, that British forces would remain on the ground "as long as is necessary".

News of the latest fatality came less than 24 hours after Lance Corporal Allan Douglas, 22, was killed in an ambush outside a police station. His was the first British death in Iraq for two months and marks an upsurge in militia violence against British forces, who until now have attempted to foster good relations with the fragmented Shia and Sunni Arab factions.

Lance Corporal Douglas was on patrol in the town of Amarah in the volatile Maysan province of southern Iraq with the 1st Battalion The Highlanders, also part of the 7th Armoured Brigade, when the troops came under small arms fire.

At the family home in Aberdeen, his mother Diane and father Walter described their son as a "lovely lad" who had not wanted to go to Iraq.

Walter Douglas told the Daily Record: "Allan was against the war. He couldn’t see the point of it - but he thought it was his duty to be there and he had no choice."

His mother added: "He was home just before Christmas. That’s the last time we saw him. He told me he wasn’t looking forward to Iraq. He knew himself it wasn’t going to be a good one."

L/ance Corporal Douglas had earlier served in Bosnia and Kosovo and had trained in Canada before heading to Iraq.

Of the 100 servicemen and women who have died while on Operation Telic, 77 are classed as being killed in action, while 23 have died from illness, non-combat injuries, accident or an unknown cause.

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