A TEAM of detectives who have been working to identify bodies in tsunami-ravaged Thailand have returned home.

Fifteen officers from Greater Manchester Police's Force Major Incident Team spent two weeks in the disaster-hit area.

Led by Det Supt Simon Barraclough, they flew out in February to work as part of an international team near Phuket.

Det Supt Barraclough is one of three trained senior identification officers in the Greater Manchester force. He said: "When we arrived in Thailand we were all overwhelmed by the scale of the job we had to do, but every single member of the team was focused and committed to the job in hand. It is difficult to describe the conditions in which the team were working.

"One of the mortuary sites had more than 2,500 bodies and the team were also working in temperatures in excess of 45 degrees centigrade.

"The team which was in Thailand is an absolute credit to GMP and the police service as a whole and I can honestly say I was proud to lead them in what was a very difficult task but one which they carried out with true professionalism."