SOLDIERS at Deepcut Barracks will be forced to give evidence to a fresh inquiry starting today into the deaths of four recruits from gunshot wounds.

The Ministry of Defence said no serving officer - of any rank - would be allowed to refuse to take part in an independent review, to be carried out by a leading human rights lawyer.

The tough stance raised the prospect of officers in charge of the Surrey barracks, at the time of the deaths, giving their version of events for the first time.

Last December, the Commons defence committee refused to call two officers to give evidence to its own inquiry, despite the pleadings of the Deepcut families.

The four dead recruits included Private Geoff Gray, of Seaham, County Durham. The Army insisted he had committed suicide - but an inquest recorded an open verdict.

Nicholas Blake, a colleague of Prime Minister's wife Cherie Blair, will stage a London Press conference this morning to explain how he intends to conduct an "urgent review", lasting no more than six months.

The QC is expected to issue a fresh appeal for anyone with information about the Deepcut deaths to come forward. But he will be under pressure to go further by calling senior officers to explain their actions at the time - although probably in confidence.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman told The Northern Echo: "Any serving officer who declined a request to attend will be ordered to attend.

"We do not expect anyone to refuse. But, if they do, we will tell them to go along and give evidence - and that includes the people who were in charge of Deepcut."

Meanwhile, the most comprehensive probe on the bullying issue, carried out by the independent Adult Learning Inspectorate, has found the risks faced by recruits are too high.

A zero tolerance approach to bullying, including clearly-defined approaches to discipline, needs to be adopted to tackle the problem, it said.

But relatives of soldiers who died at the Catterick and Deepcut bases said the report only mirrored what they had been telling the MoD for years, and a public inquiry was still needed.

Meanwhile, the father of Pte Gray said yesterday he was incensed at comments by a senior soldier that people who commit suicide are "less intelligent".

Geoff Gray senior hit out at a statement by General Anthony Palmer, the deputy chief of defence staff, following the release of the Adult Learning Inspectorate report, after the general was asked why there was such a high suicide rate in his service.

The general said: "There is statistically a predisposition to self harm and suicide among the less intelligent, and by and large the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy recruit at a higher level of educational attainment than the Army."

Mr Gray said: "It is an insult to the soldiers who died, and General Palmer is a disgrace."