British troop numbers in Afghanistan will increase to more than 8000 by next spring, their highest ever level, with the government insisting that it is on the way to beating the Taliban.

Defence Secretary Des Browne told MPs yesterday the troop deployment would increase from 7800 to 8030 in a signal that Britain is to stay the course in the dangerous southern province of Helmand.

As Mr Browne spoke, members of the public stood in lines three-deep while the repatriated coffins of five paratroopers killed in Afghanistan passed through the town of Wootton Bassett, in Wiltshire. The men, from 2nd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment, including Private David Murray, 19, who was born in Dumfries, but lived in Carlisle, died in two separate incidents in Helmand within a week.

Heck of a job Brownie

In the Commons, Mr Browne stated his belief that the lives of British personnel had not been lost in vain. "The Taliban are losing the fight in southern Afghanistan," said Mr Browne and were reduced to suicide terror attacks instead of open insurgency.

The deployment represents a reconfiguration of forces that the Defence Secretary said would improve protection for British personnel, increase training and Afghan security services, and assist reconstruction.

"This is not a campaign that can be won by military means alone," said Mr Browne. "Generating improvements in a country that has been devastated by decades of conflict is a long-term endeavour, but there is a tangible sense that life for many Afghans is improving."

He claimed training the Afghan National Army was a "success story" but creating an effective police force required a £1bn-a-year retraining programme. Mr Browne said the total personnel in the country would rise by only 230 as 400 existing posts were being closed.

A Harrier jump-jet force at Kandahar will be withdrawn by spring 2009 and replaced with a force of Tornado GR4s, either from the 617 Dambuster squadron at RAF Lossiemouth or RAF Marham in Norfolk. Additional helicopter crews will help increase the amount of flying time available to Britain's Chinook and Apache helicopters.

Shadow Defence Secretary Liam Fox warned of "overstretch" and the need to recalibrate public expectations for a long-haul campaign. He also complained about the unequal burden British troops were shouldering in the south of Afghanistan. "We will now have 8000 personnel in Afghanistan and 4000 on active operations in Iraq.

"We have consistently raised concerns about the force size in Afghanistan," said Dr Fox.

He added that the majority of the fighting in Afghanistan had been left to Britain, the US, Canada and the Dutch.

Numerous speakers in the Commons paid tribute to the 102 British personnel who have died in the Afghan campaign.

The previous Defence Secretary, John Reid, who, when he announced the British deployment to Helmand expressed the hope troops would leave without a "single shot being fired in anger", listened from the back benches.

Mr Browne denied the effort in Afghanistan would end in failure as military expeditions throughout history have. "On previous occasions people were fighting against the Afghans," said Mr Browne. "We're fighting with the Afghans: that's the significant difference."