Banned! It's no fun for soldiers.

Byline: Joanne Emmerson

Three soldiers on leave from Iraq were turned away from a North Yorkshire theme park - because it bans groups of men.

Lance Corporal Lee Dring, 21, from Park End, Trooper David Leen, 18, from Pallister Park, and Trooper Martin Evans, 21, from Marton Road, were hoping for some fun during their one week's leave from the blazing desert heat.

But when they arrived at Flamingo Land, where they planned to camp for the night, they were refused admission.

David said: "They said they didn't allow all-male parties.

"It seemed a bit ridiculous. If there had been loads of us we could have understood it but there were only three of us.

"We weren't there to cause any trouble or anything, just have a laugh and we wanted to stay over."

Lee added: "We had to give up at the finish. So we went to Scarborough and had a Chinese meal in a nice restaurant instead."

A spokeswoman for Flamingo Land said that it was company policy not to allow single-sex groups to stay overnight because the site is a "family attraction".

The three soldiers are all serving in the Light Dragoons. They were first sent to Al Alamrah in south-east Iraq earlier this year - the same base used by the military police who were killed in June.

The boys were due to travel to the Gulf last year but instead were called on to fight fires during the Fire Brigade strikes.

Tragically, their friend and fellow Light Dragoon Christopher Horvath, 20, from Marske, was killed in a car crash when he drove home from firefighting duties in November last year.

The three lads have returned to Iraq where they will be stationed until November and they are now appealing to Teesside lasses to write to them while they are in the Gulf.

* You can write to the boys at: 25103760, Lnc Cpl Dring, SHQ Troop, A Squadron, Light Dragoons, Op Telic2, BFPO 660.

25144700, Tpr Leen, GW Troop, A Squadron, Light Dragoons, Op Telic2, BFPO 660.

25084968, Tpr Evans, GW Troop, A Squadron, Light Dragoons, Op Telic2, BFPO 660.