Defence Correspondent Mark Laity: The troops will be part of a 1,700-strong force

The Ministry of Defence says an army unit is ready to join a 1,700-strong Nato extraction force formed because of fears for the safety of 2,000 international verifiers monitoring the peace deal beween the Serbs and rebel forces in Kosovo.

The verifiers are unarmed, and if they run into trouble the extraction force, based in neighbouring Macedonia, will go into rescue them.

Ready to go

The 1st Battalion King's Own Royal Border Regiment based at Catterick

A company of 350 soldiers from the 1st Battalion King's Own Royal Border Regiment - based at Catterick, in North Yorkshire - are now on standby to be deployed in Macedonia.

The troops will team up with German and Dutch troops under the French-led force in the area.

Much of the force will be helicopter-equipped for speed and mobility, but the British troops will use well-protected Warrier armoured vehicles, if there is heavier fighting.

Necessary back-up

A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said that the soldiers could be called upon "should the verifiers require assistance".

He said: "The UK and Nato are undertaking sensible contingency plans for a multi-national extraction force."

"We need to cover all our options if things do not go according to plan."

The international verifiers in Kosovo are part of a monitoring mission which has been set up by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe to oversee the ceasefire in Kosovo between Serbian forces and ethnic Albanians.

They have been deployed as part of the peace agreement reached between President Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia and the American envoy, Richard Holbrooke, in October.