The father of one of 14 servicemen killed in a Nimrod plane crash has spoken of his fears over the safety of the fleet.

Robert Dicketts, from Horsmonden, said: "We don’t want another 14 families to go through what we have gone through. We want to make sure that the planes are as safe as possible.”

Mr Dicketts' 27-year-old son Oliver was serving with the Parachute Regiment when the the incident happened near Kandahar, Afghanistan, on September 2, 2006.

The retired chartered accountant was speaking after he and other families met

Armed Forces Minster Bob Ainsworth last week to hear their concerns about the planes.

The families have been told that safety checks on the fleet will take until next June to complete but that the minster could not say why it would take so long.

“We are not out to ground the fleet permanently, because we know they do a great job, but they have got to be safe,” said Mr Dicketts.

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