A soldier killed by a mine in Afghanistan may have been the victim of an enemy trap, an inquest heard.

Rifleman Peter Aldridge, 19, of Folkestone, had stepped on the IED (improvised explosive device) planted in a bund he was sheltering behind after coming under fire.

Capt Philip Floyd, who investigated the death, told the hearing in Ashford, that the bund would have been an obvious place to shelter when being shot at and the IED had been placed in the bund with a pressure plate.

Rfn Aldridge, of Horn Street, Cheriton, had stepped on the device after the shooting stopped and he got up to try to locate the gunmen.

Rfn Aldridge died while on an 11-man foot patrol near Sangin in Helmand Province on January 22 this year.

The patrol had stopped when one of the men had spotted another IED and gone to examine it and the group then came under fire from insurgents.

Capt Floyd believed the first device would have been there to stop the patrol in its tracks.

After the explosion an army medic battle to save his life and then he was taken by helicopter to a field hospital at Camp Bastion where he died later that day.

The inquest heard that his body armour and helmet were in proper condition but could not have protected him in this case.

Coroner Rachel Redman ruled that Rfn Aldridge was killed unlawfully while on active service.