Three Kent-based soldiers accused of chopping off the fingers of dead Taliban fighters will not be prosecuted.

Military police launched a probe last year into claims they kept the body parts as "souvenirs".

However, the Ministry of Defence said the Service Prosecution Authority investigation found the fingers had been taken for forensic testing.

The case involved two officers and a soldier believed to be from the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, 5th Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland, which is based at Canterbury.

The claims came after the battalion’s tour of Afghanistan between September 2010 and April 2011 when they trained Afghan police.