A HEARTFELT appeal is being made to the people of Warrington to help the soldiers spending Christmas in Kosovo celebrate the festive season with a smile.

For many, Christmas is a time spent with close family and friends but for the soldiers stationed out in Kosovo, it can be one of the loneliest times of the year.

But Sergeant Edward Arnold, born and bred in Warrington, is hoping to make the first Christmas of the new millennium a happy occasion for his soldiers.

He is inviting the people of his home town to send a Christmas card or letter to every one of his soldiers to show them that their country remembers and cares about them at this special time of year.

The 30-year-old, who is currently stationed in Pristina in Kosovo attached to 26 Engineer Regiment, said: "I am dismayed that the boys out here are being slightly forgotten by the people back in the UK who are preparing for Christmas with their families.

"I have troops out here that are as young as 18 that will not have the full benefits of Christmas. Could you please, therefore, ask the population of Warrington to send a letter or a Christmas card to the boys out here?

"It may be impersonal, but it will at least show that our north west hospitality is not waning and I am sure that the troops would love to write a letter back and thank anybody who does send a letter or card."

Sgt Arnold originally lived in Cabul Close in Orford and then moved to Winwick. He served as a youngster in the Warrington Sea Cadet Corps as a Marine Cadet and joined the 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards at the bright old age of 17, serving as an Infanteer.

He has served in Northern Ireland, the Gulf War, Bosnia, Germany and Canada.

"Several years back when I was serving in Bosnia at Christmas time in Vitez I sent a card to Warrington General Hospital, Warrington Rugby League Club and several others just for a laugh.

"And to my amazement lots of people wrote back with Christmas cards and letters. The jobs out here are long and numerous and it was a great boost for morale for the boys to have something else to concentrate on during the long winter nights.

"Nowadays people look closer to home at times of family festivity and the soldier is normally the last on everybody's mind when it comes to missing home.

"I would like to try to help the younger soldiers to show them people do think of them and they are not just forgotten."

Anyone interested in sending any letters or cards should address them to Sgt Arnold, (To a Soldier), 26 Engineer Regiment Group, Op Agricola 4, Gundolph Lines, BFPO 559.