ARMED soldiers and the risk of mines have not deterred a Bolton man from launching another mercy mission to war torn Bosnia.

Conrad Dobson and his 15-year-old son Simon answered a call from the Red Cross to take part in a Land Rover convoy taking aid to the remote village of Bosanska Krupa.

Roads leading to the village were badly damaged in the fighting and the only way to reach the people living there was by four wheel drive vehicles.

The Dobsons in their Range Rover, and 30 other vehicles, took part in the two week mission.

But Conrad, of Longfellow Avenue, Daubhill and fellow drivers John Whitmore and Vince Cobbley were so horrified by the conditions the people are living in that they are determined to return, taking more aid in May or June next year.

Their last Red Cross trip did not go totally smoothly and at one stage they feared they would not be able to distribute the aid as the Bosnian Red Cross put it into a warehouse and refused to release it.

It took the help of soldiers from the Canadian SFOR force to persuade the Bosnians to let the aid go.

"It was quite nerve-wracking because everyone was armed to the teeth," said Conrad.

One of the highlights of the trip was when Simon presented the headmaster of the village school with a plaque given to them by the Mayor of Bolton, Cllr Alan Wilkinson to show that the people of Bolton are remembering them.

But one of the scariest aspects of the journey through the Bosnian hills were the repeated warnings the drivers were given about the risk of landmines.

Two days before they arrived a local child was killed by a landmine and it is estimated that in the country there could still be up to five million of the devices planted.

The threat became only too real for Conrad when he stopped his Range Rover on one country road only to find a mine just a metre from his wheel.

"It made the hairs stand up on my back," said Conrad.

Despite this Conrad and his family are now planning their return trip when they hope to take money to help pay for landmine clearance round Bosanska Krupa as well as small radios and batteries, torches and candles for the people whose homes in the hills still have no electricity.

"It is a desperate situation in the outlying areas," said Conrad.

Anyone who can help can contact Conrad by ringing Bolton 652301 or e-mailing him at Conrad@dobson62.freeserve.co.uk.