A HAMPSHIRE police worker has returned from Thailand after helping in the aftermath of the Asian tsunami disaster.

Press officer Debbie Denis, 24, spent two weeks giving communications support for the disaster victim identification team.

The team is trying to identify about 6,000 bodies in three mortuary sites in the Khao Lak area.

Officers use fingerprints, forensics, dental records and other post-mortem data to identify bodies, and ante-mortem data such as DNA is being gathered from around the world to help identify missing people, which is a long and arduous task.

Debbie said: "When we arrived in Phuket and were driven to our hotel it looked like people were getting on with their everyday lives and as if the infrastructure was still in place.

"But that was the exception rather than the norm and the more time I spent there the more devastation I saw. Houses and hotels are just rubble. I spoke to one man who had lost his bar, restaurant and home and was sleeping on the beach in a sleeping bag.

"He had tears in his eyes when he was telling me. It was incredibly moving. Working on the mortuary sites was extremely hot and you had to wear protective clothing, which made it very hard work. The sites were very solemn. It was one of the saddest places on earth."

UK police officers from forces around the country are spending two or three week stints in Thailand before returning home for welfare reasons.

Debbie, who is based at Winchester police station, said: "I take my hat off to the officers out there. It was extremely hard both physically and mentally for them. A lot of officers found it difficult to go back after their two or three weeks out there. It's work unfinished and it's going to take months. The sad reality is some people will never be found.

"I hope I helped in some small way. It's difficult to put into words what it was like out there - I got on the plane not knowing what to expect.

"But it is an experience I will never forget."