THE long-awaited report into Britain's invasion of Iraq will finally be published today amid calls for Tony Blair to be held to account for taking the country to war.

Thirteen years after British troops crossed into Iraq and seven years after the inquiry began work, Sir John Chilcot will deliver his verdict on the UK's most controversial military engagement of the post-war era.

The former Whitehall mandarin has said from the outset he would not rule on whether the invasion in 2003 was legal in terms of international law, pledging to provide a "full and insightful" account of the decision-making process.

But that is unlikely to quell the clamour for some form of legal action against the former prime minister if – as many expect – he is strongly criticised by Sir John and his inquiry panel.

The prosecutor at the International Criminal Court Fatou Bensouda has made clear that charges cannot be brought in relation to the use of military action as the court has no jurisdiction over the "crime of aggression".

However, General Sir Michael Rose, who commanded British troops in Bosnia in the 1990s and has been advising the families of some of the British dead and injured, said they were preparing to launch a civil action against Mr Blair.

"He has a personal responsibility as leader of this country to properly assess the intelligence and information that he is using to justify going to war," he told BBC Radio 4's The World at One.

"The consequences of that war have been utterly catastrophic. The families want to see justice and if it proves as a result of reading the report that there was dereliction of duty, malfeasance in public office, intelligence was negligently handled, then they will take action."

Sir John had originally hoped the report would be ready within two years of starting work in 2009, but it has since been hit by a series of delays.

The Northern Echo will be reporting on the inquiry's findings. For up to date coverage and reaction visit thenorthernecho.co.uk