A shake-up of training for military recruits should have been in place before a young North East soldier died, his father has said.

Geoff Gray's comments came as the Ministry of Defence announced measures to stamp out the mistreatment of young service personnel.

Mr Gray's son, also called Geoff, of Seaham, County Durham, was found with two gunshot wounds to the head in September 2001, at Deepcut Barracks, in Surrey.

Mr Gray has been pressing the MoD to hold a full public inquiry into the 17-year-old's death - a call backed by three other families whose loved ones also died in mysterious circumstances at the Royal Logistics Corps HQ.

Among the measures outlined in an MoD report are guaranteed access to confidential welfare support, the chance for recruits to give anonymous feedback to officers on their training and continued efforts to stamp out bullying.

Mr Gray, who now lives in Hackney, London, said parents of young soldiers have known for a long time about the bullying and sexual harassment they suffer.

''It's only as a result of pressure from the Deepcut families that this has come about. Not one word of this detracts from the need for a public inquiry into non-combat deaths.

''I thought my son would be looked after and that it would be better than hanging around on a street corner in Hackney. These measures should have been in place while Geoff was in the Army."

Mr Gray's case has been taken up by Labour MP Kevin McNamara, who said he was "disgusted and ashamed" at the MoD's failure to examine "real and pressing issues".

He said the MoD had failed to come up with a "realistic remedy" for the tragedies and yesterday's report strengthened the case for an inquiry.