A CWMBRAN Army reservist took on a four-legged challenge when he was on exercise in Romania recently.

Part-time soldier Matthew Herbert and colleagues from the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers (Militia) used time at the end of their two-week exercise in Romania to build a shelter for stray dogs who lived near the barracks where they were staying.

After a picture was posted of Sapper Herbert greeting one of many wet and cold looking puppies that roamed the Cincu Training Camp, he thought it would be a good idea to build a dog shelter. "As soon as we saw the reaction to the picture, we knew we should do something" he says.

"A section of eight of us did it with help of some guys from the US Army who were based there. It was such a great thing to do because lots of us have dogs and it reminded us of home."

Animals are often adopted by military units as mascots, and Matthew says that doing this gave a big boost to morale.

The 34-year-old, who has two dogs himself, Staffordshire terriers Alfie and Rocco, said the local pooches seemed delighted with their new home. "They took a bit of enticing when we'd finished it, but once they were in they loved it."

Matthew, from Greenmeadow, Cwmbran, was in Romania as part of Exercise Resolute Castle for two weeks putting in concrete posts and erecting roof trusses for a vehicle shelter.

He serves with 100 Field Squadron, a unit of the regiment based in the town on Ty Coch Way, and has served in Cyprus twice and has been to Kenya for a three month stint.

"The regiment have given me lots of opportunities to do things I wouldn't normally get to do" he said, adding, "I get paid to see the world".

He says there are lots of benefits to being in the Reserves. "They paid for me to do my driving test which was a great help."

Sapper Herbert works at IG Doors in Cwmbran. "They've been very understanding and very flexible" he says.