A man from Bristol who went to Syria to join the fight against ISIS terrorists has been charged with a terrorism offence by police in the UK.

Josh Walker was arrested at Gatwick Airport in December as he returned from fighting alongside Kurdish YPG forces in the Rojava region of northern Syria.

Upon his return he was detained and questioned, while police searched his student room in Wales.

Josh was released the following day and returned to Bristol, where he gave several interviews to the media about his experiences fighting against ISIS in Syria.

He answered bail at a police station in Wales yesterday and was informed that he was being charged with possessing materials which could be useful to someone preparing an act of terrorism.

The 26-year-old will appear at Westminster Magistrates Court next week - but the nature of the charge means his trial is likely to take place at the Old Bailey.

Josh travelled to Syria in June last year, to join the Kurdish YPG forces fighting against ISIS in the Rojava region.

He spent time on the front lines fighting against ISIS with the left-wing militia.

His unit was hit by an airstrike while on an operation, which killed many of his friends.

Josh and his friend Nazzareno Tassone who was later killed

Josh told the Bristol Post in an interview in two weeks ago that he had gone to Syria because wanted to stop ISIS and he believed in what the YPG were trying to do.

He said he had been inspired by writers like George Orwell, who had gone to fight against fascism during the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s.

Kurdish forces have been a key ally to the West in the fight against ISIS, receiving military and intelligence support from US and allied forces.

There are dozens of reported cases of westerners going to fight alongside the Kurds.

While these western volunteers are often arrested as a precaution upon returning to their home countries, most have been released without charge.

A spokesperson for the Welsh Extremism and Counter Terrorism Unit said Josh had been charged with collecting or making a record of information that is of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, an offence under Section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000.