A Keighley man today told of the horrors he encountered in the Palestinian town of Jenin after returning from a mercy mission.

Former Greenhead School pupil Stefan Hopkins was part of a highly skilled British team working under gunfire to pull bodies from the rubble of a shattered refugee camp.

The charity RAPID UK was called in by the United Nations to work in the town which has been the scene of some of the worst Israeli bombardment in the war-torn West Bank.

More than 120 buildings had been flattened at its centre and hundreds of Arabs are believed to have been buried alive under the debris.

Tragically, hours of painstaking work revealed there were no survivors for the team to rescue.

On the first day of the three- day trip, Mr Hopkins saw one child killed and another seriously hurt when one of the children picked up a home-made explosive. On another afternoon, three people were shot dead as they stood in a crowd watching the team work.

Mr Hopkins, 36, was later told they had been executed for collaborating with the Israelis.

He said: "The smell of death was everywhere.

"It was an extremely dangerous environment and the biggest threat was unexploded bombs.

"It is impossible to switch off your emotions working in a situation like this but your senses do become heightened.

"Every time you think you hear a noise under the rubble you can feel the spirits of the crowd lift.

"There was immense hatred between the two communities."

The team stayed in an abandoned school which was covered in bullet holes of every shape and size.

A former RAF officer, Mr Hopkins joined RAPID UK two years ago as a volunteer. RAPID UK, which stands for Rescue and Preparedness in Disaster, is a registered charity and is funded by donations from the public.

It was founded six year ago to respond to disasters around the world and is manned by members of the emergency services and the armed forces.

In January last year Mr Hopkins was sent to Ahmadabad, close to the centre of the Indian earthquake.

The team battled against time, saving the lives of hundreds of people trapped under collapsed buildings.

They are trained in using thermal image and listening devices and also have two sniffer dogs and five paramedics as part of their team.

Mr Hopkins's brother is Councillor Kris Hopkins, chairman of Bradford Council's social services committee.

Today Coun Hopkins spoke of his pride for his brother.

He said: "I am immensely proud of him. It is emotional work which has had a marked effect on Stefan since he came back from India.

"When you see sights like that, you can't help but feel horrified."