Dumfries and Galloway charity given £23 million

The Halo Trust will use the money given from the UK Government to continue to remove landmines from the world's most affected countries. Credit: The Halo Trust

A Dumfries and Galloway based charity has been given £23 million from the UK Government.

The HALO Trust will use the money to continue clearing landmines from nine of the world's most badly affected countries.

An estimated 820,000 people living near the minefields are expected to benefit from the UK aid.

By 2020, HALO says the funding will ensure that minefields, as large as sixteen-thousand football pitches, will be cleared across Africa and Asia.

HALO Trust was founded in 1988 at Thornhill, near Dumfries, and specifies in removing debris from war-torn countries. The Trust famously escorted the Princess of Wale in Angola in 1997. Prince Harry continues to support the organisation.

The announcement of the funding cements the UK Government's commitment to helping free Angola of mine-fields.

Funding will also support HALO teams in Somalia where progress has been made clearing the entire Somaliland territory of anti-tank and anti-personnel mines by 2020.