FIVE Wiltshire warriors have been selected to represent Team UK at next year's Invictus Games in The Hague including former British army officer Spencer Bull from Warminster.

The five joined the rest of the team for the first time at the Honourable Artillery Company in London. BAE Systems is sponsoring Team UK for the first time.

The athletes – 89 per cent of whom have never taken part in an Invictus Games before - will now take part in training camps delivered by Salisbury-based charity Help for Heroes to prepare for the international sporting competition next year.

The Wiltshire contingent comprises former army veterans Laura Powell, Spencer Bull and Jason Finlay alongside Lieutenant Commander James Rogers and Warrant Officer Victoria Ross.

Mr Bull, 52, a former Lieutenant-Colonel from Wylye, won four swimming medals at the Invictus Games UK Trials in Sheffield. He has been chosen as a reserve for swimming, archery and wheelchair rugby.

Mr Bull said: "I am honoured and excited. Being part of a team event is fantastic.

"I am actually chosen as a reserve. Last year, I competed in the swimming, sailing and shot put. If I am selected to go, it means that someone else cannot make it.

"But if called forward, I would be absolutely delighted. If not, I will still be pleased because I will have done all the training."

Mr Bull was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in 2005, aged just 38, and medically discharged from The Rifles in December 2017 after the condition of the central nervous system got progressively worse.

Mr Bull competed in archery and swimming at the trials, after taking part in the Invictus Games in Sydney in October 2018 where he was vice-captain of the UK squad.

At Sheffield, he finished with a gold medal in the 100 metres freestyle and three silver medals in the 50m freestyle, the 50m breaststroke and the 50m backstroke, but failed to reach the archery final.

Mr Bull and his wife, Sally-Anne, have three boys: Charlie, 16, Alexander James, 14, who is known as ‘AJ’, and Tom, 12.

One of the reasons he takes part in the Invictus Games is to manage his condition and to enable him to interact with his children and share their interests.

More than 350 military personnel and Veterans trialled nine sports for one of the 65 places available on Team UK.

The team will compete in nine sports: athletics; archery; wheelchair basketball; cycling; powerlifting; indoor rowing; wheelchair rugby; swimming and sitting volleyball.

Hannah Lawton, of Help for Heroes , said: “We are very proud to be working alongside these 65 athletes and wish them the best of luck as they embark on their Invictus Games journeys.”

“The legacy of the Games is strong and they are providing a gateway for more wounded veterans and service personnel to benefit from the Help for Heroes sports recovery programme."

Invictus UK is delivered by a partnership comprising Help for Heroes, The Ministry of Defence, and The Royal British Legion.