A Royal Horse Artillery unit from Britain on Saturday found more than 200 decomposed bodies in a warehouse between Basra and Zubayr in Iraq, according to reports.

The remains, some clad in barely recognisable strips of military uniform, were in unsealed hardboard boxes, the reports said on Sunday.

A British forensic team will investigate the matter, they said.

In a neighbouring building, the troops found catalogued photographs, apparently of the dead.

In a nearby courtyard there was a tiled foot-high plinth, the brickwork behind it riddled with bullets.

Although British military sources said the strips of uniform could possibly be Iraqi, the identity of the corpses is likely to remain a mystery until a detailed examination is completed.