A LEIGH sailor was involved in the Royal Navy's latest Caribbean £350 million drugs bust.

Twenty-one-years-old Damon Hatton was aboard HMS Southampton, one of the ships involved in the joint operation between the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary which resulted in the capture of three and a half tonnes of cocaine being smuggled on a cargo ship.

And at the weekend the former Westleigh High School student rang his granddad, former Navy man Cyril Hatton, of Abbey Road, Lowton, to tell him the news.

Damon said his guided missile destroyer was refuelling from the Fleet Auxiliary's tanker RFA Grey Rover while working closely with the US Coastguard and Royal Netherlands Navy authorities.

After they detected a suspect ship Southampton stopped refuelling and led a charge at nearly 30 knots to surprise the vessel. The ship's helicopter was launched and intercepted the vessel as boarding teams swooped on fast inflatables at sunset. A large number of cocaine bales were discovered.

OM2 Damon, who joined the Navy four years ago, is an operator mechanic, and had been aboard the Southampton for five months on a patrol which has taken them from West Africa to the Falkland Islands, Brazil and into the Caribbean.

The ship's primary mission is the wider security of the British overseas territories including disaster relief, but counter narcotics operations form a major part of their daily work.

The ship's commander Rob Vitali said: "The success of this seizure will send a clear message of determination to stop the smuggling of illegal drugs - and we are good at it."

Cyril said: "I am really pleased for Damon. He keeps me in touch with me regularly from the ship, and he looks forward to coming home to see his family and his mates. He should be back with stories to tell when the ships return home at the end of the month."