The Mistrata pizza chefs and delivery boys who are helping to feed the revolution

IS THIS the most dangerous pizza delivery job in the world? In the besieged Libyan city of Misrata, youths are chancing the perils of the front line to bring piping hot Margherita slices to the fighters.

Mohammed Ali, 21, piles foil-wrapped pizzas into the back of his pick-up, the windscreen riddled with glue-filled bullet holes. Laden with hot tuna slices, he revs the engine and speeds towards the sound of war. Every day, a team of volunteers make and deliver up to 8,000 pieces of pizza to the hundreds of rebel fighters on Misrata's three front lines. The pizzeria itself is hidden in an olive grove near the field hospital, less than two miles from the western front line area of Dafniya.

In the side room of a farmhouse, burly young men don chef aprons and knead the giant balls of dough. On the next working surface, boys sprinkle the cheese and tomato sauce on bases.

It's all run by chef Emad Daiki, 32, who for years ran a successful pizzeria in Stockholm. Upon returning to his home town of Misrata less than a month ago, Mr Daiki made it his mission to feed the revolution: "I heard on 'Free Libya' radio that the fighters needed food, so I decided to set up this restaurant.".

Together with his friends, he persuaded Misrata's bombed-out hotels to donate their industrial ovens to the cause, and charmed shop owners for the ingredients.

"Most people, when they heard it was for the fighters gave many onions, tomatoes, tuna and olives, all for free," he said.

The rip and boom of the incoming BM21 'Grad' rockets shook the cooking pots, and mortars hit the olive trees the day The Scotsman was with the team.

"We have to keep the fighters strong and their morale up, they cannot just eat bread," said Mr Daiki.