MP DAVID Drew has called on the Government to urgently commit troops to help war-torn Sudan.

Mr Drew, Stroud's Labour MP, led a debate in Westminster Hall saying the Government and other UN member states should send support troops as part of a sensible intervention' to help achieve a ceasefire and long-lasting peace.

More than two million people are currently living in refugee camps after fleeing their homes in the country's Darfur region - where the Sudanese government and pro-government Arab militias have been accused of war crimes.

The African Union has agreed to keep its peacekeeping troops in Darfur - where more than 200,000 people have died so far - until the end of the year.

"I don't accept either extreme point of view that we can intervene completely or on the other hand do nothing as it's too complicated," he told the SNJ after his Westminster debate last month.

"There are currently 7,000 African Union troops but this is not enough.

"We need to build up the African Union force by supplementing with UN supply.

"The fighting is getting worse on the ground.

"It is far worse than it has ever been before."

Mr Drew, who is planning to visit the troubled area in February, said action must be taken to address the reported actions of militia groups which are accused of abducting and holding women as sex slaves.

Meanwhile, Mr Drew has condemned the Government's plans to spend up to £20 billion on a new generation of submarines for Trident nuclear missiles.

"I am opposed to any spending on new nuclear missiles," he said.

"We have to recognise that we have a key role in peacekeeping throughout the world.

"But Trident is only going to take away from our defence budget.

"It's not the right defence policy for Britain in the 21st Century."