AN SAS reservist told an inquest into the death of a Hampshire soldier there had been an “outright failure of common sense” during his own treatment for heat illness.

The soldier had been on a fatal test march which led to the deaths of Lance Corporal Edward Maher from Winchester and two others after they collapsed due to the effects of heat on one of the hottest days of 2013.

L/Cpl Maher, 31, died later the same day in Merthyr Tydfil's Prince Charles Hospital wile L/Cpl Roberts, originally from Penrhyn Bay, Conwy, was pronounced dead on the mountainside.

Cpl Dunsby, from Bath, died on July 30 after being transferred to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.

At least seven other soldiers suffered heat-related illness during the march on the Brecon Beacons in South Wales on July 13.

Using the codename 2D, the soldier, a former member of the Officers' Training Corps, was one of several who had taken part in the 16-mile (26km) exercise.

On the third day of the inquest he told Birmingham and Solihull Coroner Louise Hunt that he was been given a packet of Mini Cheddars and told that doctors were otherwise engaged when he became unwell.

Describing how he drifted in and out of consciousness after completing the march carrying a backpack weighing 49lb (22kg), 2D said: ''I heard them say that two, possibly three people, had experienced fatalities.

“Every time I was awake I was increasingly agitated. I kept asking if I could go to a civilian hospital. I can remember them saying the press would have a field day if they sent me to hospital.”

During his time at the camp medical centre 2D was told that he was under the Army's jurisdiction and it was “up to them” if he went to a civilian hospital.

He was later diagnosed with acute kidney injuries.

Another former full-time solider, who left the regular Army in 2006 after 10 years' service, told the inquest he had seen L/Cpl Maher on the test march near a checkpoint before he collapsed.

“He seemed fine,” said the soldier, codenamed 4R. “I pointed out that he had missed the checkpoint and he acknowledged me straight away and turned around.”

Earlier in the week the inquest heard how L/Cpl Maher was found 45 minutes after his personal tracker showed he had stopped and only 1,000 yards from the finish line.

Soldier 4R also said he saw L/Cpl Roberts close to where the 24-year-old was later found collapsed.

“As I went down to the valley just before (the end of the course), he was just behind me,” said 4R. “I was at the top of the valley, about 300 metres away.

“He was doing exactly what I had been doing - cooling down in the river.”

Confirming that he had finished the test march almost 40 minutes inside the target time, 4R told the coroner: “I didn't feel that I was affected by the heat.”

The soldier made clear that he had not ''rushed'' around the course, adding: “I made a conscious decision not to push myself too hard.”

The inquest is expected to last for another three and a half weeks.