A former sailor living in Cumbria has expressed despair over the unfolding situation in Afghanistan, saying he fears sacrifices made by soldiers will have been in vain.

Gary Pettit, who served in the Royal Navy and is the founder of Cumbrian wheelchair rugby club Penrith Pumas, said a number of Afghanistan veterans attend his training sessions.

After years of attempting to stabilise the country, foreign soldiers - including British and American troops - withdrew from Afghanistan and left it in the hands of Afghanistan's security forces.

With chaotic scenes now unfolding in the country's capital, Kabul, Afghanistan is on the brink of being completely retaken by Taliban forces.

"I know quite a few people who have come back with quite significant injuries," said Gary.

"I'm not overly happy, because it seems as though what we've done, what we've accomplished, and the number of people that we've lost seems to be in vain now.

"You can't stay in a country forever. At some point, you have got to say 'enough is enough, they can cope', but in this situation they're not going to cope.

"If I'm honest, I can see us being back there within six months to a year.

"I appreciate it's a difficult task trying to train a security force, but you would think that they would stand their ground.

"They clearly haven't.

"The Taliban are too strong for them."

Boris Johnson chaired a third Cobra meeting in four days on Monday over the worsening situation in Afghanistan as No 10 pledged to continue to evacuate people from the country for as long as it is safe to do so.

Gary left the military in 2000 after a serious knee injury he sustained whilst jumping out of a Hercules military aircraft grew progressively worse.

He continues to work closely with former soldiers through his role at Penrith Pumas and admits that the worsening situation in Afghanistan is "frustrating" to watch.

He added: "I genuinely feel very sorry for all the families that have lost loved ones out there, or their loved ones - whether it be wife, husband, girlfriend or boyfriend - with life-changing injuries.

"Now, they're sat up this morning watching the news and seeing this happen.

"What was the point in being there? What was the point in spending millions of pounds training a security force for them to surrender and for all our lads and girls to loose their lives and come back with significant injuries?

"It's frustrating."