A fundraising challenge is being launched in the name of Shipley war hero Steve Roberts, the first British combatant to be killed in the Iraq conflict.

Spearheaded by the Royal British Legion and supported by Steve's widow Samantha, the challenge is aimed at raising £10,000.

And award-winning Keighley brewery Timothy Taylor is joining the fundraising ranks.

The company is offering £5 for every barrel of beer ordered directly from the brewery at Knowle Springs during the seven-week challenge.

Each pub involved will also attempt to raise at least £100 with its own fundraising scheme.

The challenge will be launched on Monday at the brewery by Mrs Roberts who, since her husband's death, has become a keen supporter of The Royal British Legion which runs the annual Poppy appeal every November.

Steve, a tank commander in the 2nd Royal Tank regiment, was killed in a gun battle outside Basra on March 23. He was 32.

Mrs Roberts said: "As Steve's widow, I am backing the Royal British Legion's fundraising campaign. I'm sure Steve would be proud that his name is being used to raise funds for a worthy cause.

"The Poppy Appeal is not just about pensioners and poppies - young men and their families need the support of the British Legion as well."

A spokesman for Timothy Taylor said the RBL contacted the brewery and managing director Charles Dent, who is an honorary colonel in the Duke of Wellington's Regi-ment, was keen to get involved .

"A number of the company's employees are ex-Duke of Wellington's Regiment and have served with other services and he thought it was a very worth while cause," said the spokesman.

Mrs Roberts is critical of the three years it is expected to take before an inquiry is held into her husband's death.

She claims he would have survived had it not been for his faulty equipment.

She claims his pistol was so faulty it misfired, that he was denied basic desert kit and that he was away from his army vehicle without a protective flak jacket.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said the matter was the subject of a Special Branch investigation. He said "ongoing efforts" to improve the situation for serving troops had been reported to a House of Commons Defence Committee.