DOUBTS have emerged about the future of The Green Howards after military chiefs were told to slash their budgets by billions of pounds.

The 2nd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment (Green Howards) is understood to be one of three infantry units earmarked for the axe.

The move would end an association with the region that stretches back more than 200 years.

The threat comes only three years after The Green Howards Regiment merged with the Prince of Wales’s Own Regiment and the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment to form the Yorkshire Regiment.

Although the amalgamation was unpopular with soldiers, it was billed as a fresh start by senior officers and a way of safeguarding the historic Green Howards name.

The Government is looking to make cuts after revealing an overspend in the £36bn defence budget of more than ten per cent.

Discussions took place last week in Whitehall between Army, Navy and RAF chiefs.

According to reports, General Sir David Richards, the incoming head of the Army, offered to abolish 2 Yorks (Green Howards).

One battalion from the Mercian Regiment and the Royal Regiment of Scotland could also go.

This would mean the loss of 1,800 troops at a time when the Army is stretched to the limit by the fight against the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Axing the RAF’s Harrier jump jet squadrons and an early retirement for the Navy Type 42 destroyers has also been suggested.

The 2nd Battalion numbers about 600 soldiers at full strength, recruiting mainly from North Yorkshire and Teesside. Retired senior officers last night condemned any reduction in the Army’s infantry force.

Brigadier John Powell, OBE, was The Green Howards’ last regimental colonel before its amalgamation in 2006.

He said: “If this is the case, it’s a matter of concern.

“It does seem a ludicrous time to be cutting infantry battalions when the Army is so stretched in Afghanistan.”

Mayor Roger Chapman MBE, former curator of The Green Howards Museum, in Richmond, North Yorkshire, said the axing of the regiment would be lunacy.

He said: “We’re now finding the infantry is more stretched than ever.

“To get rid of The Green Howards would seem completely wrong.”

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Defence described the reports of the proposed cuts as “total speculation”.

She said: “I am sure meetings have taken place where everything has been thrown into the pot.

“All these things will need to be examined for months and months before a final decision is taken.”

She said it would be a year before that decision would be made.

The regiment returned from Afghanistan in April last year, and will begin another tour later this year.

The unit has served all over the world and has received 18 Victoria Crosses, including the only one won on D-Day.

The regiment’s headquarters are in York, while 2 Yorks are based in Weeton Barracks, Preston.

The former Green Howards headquarters, located in the museum in Richmond, is now the area headquarters for the Yorkshire Regiment.

The Green Howards Association has 28 branches, mostly in the North-East and North Yorkshire.