IT's hardly been a day at the races.

Specialist Hampshire soldiers have been based at Cheltenham racecourse in Gloucestershire for a week, playing a vital role in the battle to bring much-needed supplies to the thousands of stricken people who have had have had their homes wrecked and water supply wiped out by the biggest summer storms in living memory.

Some 200 soldiers from the Marchwood-based 17 Port Maritime Regiment have spent up to 12 hours day in the mercy mission delivering millions of litres of water and ensuring that a vital pumping station serving 350,000 people was not engulfed by flood waters.

Their adjutant, Captain Jon West, who viewed the catastrophic effects of the torrential rain that caused rivers to burst their banks and engulf homes, shops and offices in Gloucestershire, said: "It is a sobering thought."

The Royal Logistic Corps were based at either Gold Command at the county's police headquarters just outside the city which acted as the administrative centre for the relief and were in contact with Cobra, the Government's top emergency task force.

Others were deployed at the Prestbury Park racecourse - parts of which at the height of the floods were under about 12 feet of water - where the relief supplies of water were brought in from supermarkets and then transferred to the regiment's vehicles for delivery to about 20 stations around Tewkesbury, the worst affected area where the Rivers Avon and Severn had burst their banks.

"We have been co-ordinating deliveries of bottled and bulk waters," said 31-year-old Captain West. "We have taken over the command and custody of the armed forces' help to residents, dealing with about 350,000 people and delivering some two million litres of water a day. We have been dropping off eight pallets at a time."

The crack team was also brought in to prevent flood waters reaching the crucial Mythe water treatment plant that serves thousands of local homes.

The soldiers have been working up to 12 hours day, and though some of their vehicles needed police escorts because of petty acts of vandalism and amid accusations that some people were getting more than others with relief supplies, the flood victims have not been slow to show their gratitude.

Capt West said: "We are trained to do this sort of work. The public have been absolutely delighted to see us and thanked us for our response."

The Regiment is due to leave tomorrow.

Normally it is deployed in theatres of war landing troops, vehicles and combat supplies.