THEY say it's a small world - and the experience of a Gwent news cameraman on the front line in the Gulf proves it.

Risca man Dai Baker, 30, pictured, went out to cover the impending war for ITN with reporter Philip Reay-Smith last week.

And after just a couple of days on the front line with British troops in Kuwait, Dai bumped into a man he had last seen walking around his home town.

Dai, who is currently with the Seventh Parachute Regiment Horse Artillery near the Iraqi border, said: "I was out covering bayonet practice by the paras when I literally bumped into someone I went to Risca Comprehensive with."

That was gun commander Tim Parr.

Dai said: "He is a few years older than me, but was in my best friend's class.

"I knew he was with a parachute regiment, but we weren't sure if it was Four or Five Para. So I wondered if it could happen - and then it did.

"He has been here for five weeks and was exactly the same, and his friends and family will be glad to know that he is well and in good spirits."

Dai has worked for ITN for eight and a half years and has covered stories in Montenegro, Albania and Macedonia during the Kosovo conflict, and Pakistan during the invasion of Afghanistan.

If an invasion takes place, he will be following the Paras into Iraq.

Dai said: "We arrived last Thursday and the conditions here are not bad. We are eating American army rations and there are hot showers for the troops.

"But I am not looking forward to when we leave for the desert. Conditions there are going to be very difficult. The troops just want to get on with it and go now."

Dai believes the media will get 48 hours' notice of an invasion - and then he will lose contact with his wife, Karen, in Cardiff, parents Trevor and Kath in Risca and brother George in Bassaleg.

He says: "They are very worried about me. Karen and I got married in June and she was away on business in America when I left, so we didn't get chance to say goodbye in person."