- General Sir David Richards's comments come after PM said he would consider military options to remove dictator Bashar al Assad
- Said international community would need support from people inside Syria
- British troops could provide food, shelter and medical supplies to refugees
- Could intervene during this winter when more lives are at risk
By Ian Drury
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Intervention: General Sir David Richards said contingency plans were in place for limited military action in Syria
Hundreds of British troops could be deployed to intervene in Syria if the country descends into chaos.
General Sir David Richards, the UK's top soldier, said contingency plans were in place for a 'very limited' military response if the humanitarian situation worsened.
His admission is the most serious warning yet that Britain could deploy forces to the warzone.
His comments come just days after Prime Minister David Cameron announced he would consider military options to remove dictator Bashar al Assad.
The Chief of the Defence Staff's remarks will fuel fears that the UK risks being slowly sucked into a full-scale conflict with the tyrant's regime.
But Gen Richards stressed that the international community and political leaders would need to secure support from people inside Syria before so-called 'safe zones' could be protected by foreign forces.
British troops could also play a part in providing food, shelter and medical supplies to refugee camps in countries neighbouring Syria, he said.
More than 200,000 people have fled Syria for Jordan as the situation deteriorates.
He said the main focus should be to contain the crisis so that it did not spill over into other countries in the region.
Some 40,000 people have been killed in the long-running uprising against Assad's government.
Quizzed about sending troops to the region, Gen Richards told BBC1's The Andrew Marr Show: 'There is no ultimately military reason why one shouldn't and I know that all these options are quite rightly being examined. but we are some way off.'
He suggested that Britain could intervene this winter when desert temperatures plummet and lives are put at risk.
General Sir David Richards said it is important to contain the crisis so that it doesn't spill over into countries like Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey
He said it would be a 'huge effort', adding: 'The humanitarian situation this winter I think will deteriorate and that may well provoke calls to intervene in a limited way.'
'Obviously we develop contingency plans to look at all these things,' he said. 'It is my job to make sure that these options are continually brushed over to make sure that we can deliver them and they are credible.
'The main thing for now that we are all focusing on is to contain the crisis so that it doesn't spill over into countries like Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey.
'That's our primary focus but that would also accommodate a humanitarian crisis because we could help deal with that. It is certainly something we have got to look at.'
Free Syrian Army fighters walk on rubble of damaged buildings in Homs. At present there is no legal basis for delivering military assistance to the rebels
His intervention comes amid growing signs of frustration in Downing Street at the inability of the international community to halt the fighting which has led to tens of thousands of deaths.
During Mr Cameron's visit last week to the region, it emerged that officials had been told to examine how Britain could get around a European Union arms embargo on Syria to funnel weapons directly to opposition fighters.
Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said the UK had not ruled out military intervention in Syria
No-fly zones imposed by RAF jets and direct Western air strikes have not been 'ruled out'. Those options will be discussed when Mr Cameron chairs a meeting of the National Security Council on Syria.
In a dramatic escalation of the UK's involvement in the Syrian civil war, the Prime Minister give the green light for British officials to advise rebel commanders on the ground for the first time.
The talks are designed to help the opposition forces form one united rebel army to bring about regime change.
In another BBC interview, Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said the UK had not ruled out military intervention in Syria. But he stressed that diplomats are focused on overcoming objections from Russia and China to a resolution in the United Nations.
He said: 'We don't rule it out. At the moment we don't have a legal basis for delivering military assistance to the rebels.
'This is something that the Prime Minister keeps asking us to test, the legal position, the practical military position, and we will continue to look at all options.'
Meanwhile, Syrian opposition groups meeting in Qatar have agreed to form a new coalition to oppose Assad's government.
And Israeli forces have fired warning shots into Syria after a mortar round fired from the war-torn country hit a military post in the Golan Heights.
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