First woman soldier killed in Afghanistan died inside Snatch 'mobile coffin'

The first woman soldier to be killed in Afghanistan died with three comrades in a vehicle so lightly armoured it caused "concern" among troops, an inquest heard today.

Corporal Sarah Bryant, 26, of the Intelligence Corps, was on an operation near Lashkar Gah when her Snatch Land Rover was hit by a mine.

A bomb weighing up to 100kg "devastated" the vehicle, killing her and three SAS reservists, Corporal Sean Reeve, 28, Lance Corporal Richard Larkin, 39, and Trooper Paul Stout, 31.

Troops feared the Snatch Land Rovers were not properly protected, the inquest in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, heard.

The vehicles, designed to protect troops from small arms fire but not from roadside bombs, are still being used in Afghanistan. At least 37 British soldiers have died in them since 2005, leading to the nickname the "mobile coffin".

Coroner David Masters said he would investigate the vehicle's suitability for Afghanistan and that he had asked several officers whether they had complaints about it. But he added that very few service vehicles provided protection against such a big device.

Cpl Bryant, who had been in the Army for six years, and her colleagues were trying to recapture escaped Taliban prisoners when they died. The inquest is expected to last six weeks.