Call to raise salary of UK troops

The head of the British Army has demanded a pay rise for troops following revelations that some soldiers are so hard-up they cannot afford to eat properly.

General Sir Richard Dannatt, the Chief of the General Staff, said servicemen and women were putting their lives on the line while being paid less than traffic wardens.

His remarks come after an Army briefing paper last month warned that increasing numbers of soldiers are now close to the Government's definition of poverty.

It found that growing numbers were being forced to leave the service because they could not afford to bring up a family on Army wages and in some cases soldiers were having to survive on emergency food vouchers.

In an exclusive interview with The Sun newspaper while visiting troops in Afghanistan this week, Gen Dannatt said: "You look to see how much a traffic warden is paid and compare that against what a private soldier gets paid.

"If you compare a police constable on overtime, I think you will find that an individual serviceman gets quite a lot less."