A lovesick soldier serving in Iraq used a video phone for cosy chats with his fiancee -- until being rocked by a £1,500 bill for one month's calls.

Christopher Kelly, of Keighley, has now had to take out a bank loan to pay the phone bill after calls to his Liverpool sweetheart Sueanne Nester.

The lonely 23-year-old, serving in Basra with the Royal Signals, made more than ten hours of calls on his £35 a month phone contract in the space of three weeks.

Christopher and security guard Sueanne, 24, have now warned other couples using the phones abroad to beware of 'hidden' call charges.

Sueanne, who will marry Christopher in January, said: "Chris was so angry that he has disconnected his phone and will probably use the handset for target practice.

"He has blown a month's wages and is devastated and angry that he was not warned how much he was spending. He has now had to take out a personal loan to cover the bill."

Sueanne's mother Susan paid for the state-of-the-art 3G video phones on 12-month contracts. Both women claim it was not made clear when they bought the phone that callers would be charged for making and receiving calls abroad.

Susan said: "We explained at the shop what we were using the phones for and if we had been told how expensive it was to make calls abroad we wouldn't have bought them."

A spokesman at phones4u, which sold them the phones, said: "We have a thorough consultation process where customers can ask as many questions as they wish.

"Tariffs are clearly displayed in store but do not cover international calls because they are different for each country. These tariffs are always available on request.

"Our staff would have been happy to contact 3G on her behalf to explore all options for reducing the call charges as much as possible.

"We regret if Ms Nester feels distressed."