Teenage tearaways 'make good soldiers' says army brigadier

Brigadier David Allfrey, commander of the Army's 51st (Scottish) Brigade, said the forces must do more to attract youngsters from 'impenetrable' deprived areas whose lives could be turned around with the right guidance.

His comments were made at the launch of an £800,000 recruitment campaign amid mounting concern over the manpower crisis facing the armed forces which have almost 6,000 posts unfilled.

Brigadier Allfrey said some of the best potential soldiers 'are hanging around outside chip shops'.

He added: "They may be on benefits and feel they don't have prospects but they have a tremendous amount to offer, probably much more than they know.

"They may have never had any contact with the workplace but you see them nicking a car radio and say: 'This guy's got something, he could be a good soldier.'

"I think we have to do more to reach these young people."

There is no ban on youngsters with criminal records joining the armed forces.

Each case is taken on its merits and if recruiting officers believe an offence was minor enough and an applicant has been rehabilitated, they can join.

Recruitment has been failing to keep pace with the number of experienced personnel leaving the forces - a trend widely blamed on the strain of constant operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In the year to March around 15,000 servicemen and women completed their training and joined their units, but in the same period more than 20,000 left.

The Army gained 9,370 newly-trained soldiers but lost 10,500 - not including officers.

The brigadier acknowledged that obesity and fitness problems among youngsters also presented problems.

But he added: "Often they can reach the required level of fitness very quickly, once they have had the proper guidance on things like the correct running shoes to wear - the best pair to run in rather than to impress their friends."

Last year the Mail revealed that the Army had been forced to relax its fitness tests for recruits, allowing fatter youngsters to enter training in the hope that they will catch up with required standards later, with plans to extend basic training from 12 to 14 weeks.