A SOLDIER has become the first female bomb expert to be killed in Afghanistan.

Captain Lisa Head, from Didcot-based 11 EOD Regiment, was critically injured in an explosion in Helmand Province on Monday.

The 29-year-old was later flown from Camp Bastion to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, but died from her injuries on Tuesday.

Didcot MP Ed Vaizey said her death would affect everyone living in the town.

Cpt Head was in the Nahr-e-Saraj district to clear bombs found in an alleyway used regularly by Afghans and International Security Assistance Force troops.

After making safe the first improvised explosive device (IED), she was fatally injured when a second exploded.

Her family said: “We are extremely proud of Lisa.

“Lisa always said that she had the best job in the world and she loved every second of it. She had two families – us and the Army.”

Cpt Head, based at Vauxhall Barracks, was sent to Afghanistan on March 27 as an IED disposal operator with the Counter-IED Task Force.

Her regiment, 11 EOD, has been dubbed ‘the real Hurt Locker”’ because of the extremely dangerous work it carries out.

Staff Sgt Olaf Schmid, Cpt Daniel Read and WO2 Gary ‘Gaz’ O’Donnell have all been killed by roadside bombs in the past three years.

Regiment commanding officer Lt Col Adam McRae said: “Cpt Lisa Head will be remembered by the officers and soldiers of the regiment as a passionate, robust and forthright individual who enjoyed life to the full. Her potential was considerable and she will be an enormous loss to us all.”

Cpt Head, originally from Huddersfield, served in Northern Ireland before deploying to Afghanistan.

Fellow soldier WO2 Tony Lamb said: “I recall meeting Lisa for the first time in Didcot the night before we flew to Afghanistan together.

“I was immediately struck by her friendly demeanour and sense of fun.”

Mr Vaizey said: “I am very sorry to hear this devastating news.

“Her death will affect everyone living in and around the town. 11 EOD is very much at the heart of Didcot and has been very prominent in our Remembrance Day services.”

Didcot Royal British Legion chairman Keith Hughes, 73, said: “It is sad to hear a female soldier has died.”