WOMEN soldiers are seen as "problematic" and "disruptive" despite attempts to combat sexist attitudes in the British Army, according to a new report.

Researchers from Newcastle and Sunderland universities have found that women still face great opposition from their male colleagues in the Army.

In addition, female soldiers continue to be undermined by an "historically masculine" culture.

Researchers Dr Rachel Woodward, of Newcastle University, and Dr Patricia Winter, of Sunderland University, said attitudes were not helped by media portrayals of women soldiers as either sexy or tomboyish.

Dr Woodward said: "We found that the Army is still a traditionally masculine organisation which is only adapting gradually to the inclusion of women - and this adaptation process is uneven through the ranks.

"There is evidently great opposition from many soldiers who think the Army should be an exclusively male preserve."

For the report, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and the Ministry of Defence (MoD), the two researchers interviewed Army staff responsible for implementing equal opportunities.

They also studied Army and MoD policy documents relating to the integration of women soldiers.

Many of the senior Army staff told them they found it very difficult to implement equal opportunity policy across rank and file, and another said: "It's like turning a super tanker".

One of the documents was the study into Combat Effectiveness and Gender, which led the Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon to announce that women would continue to be barred from combat.

Among the reasoning was that women in combat risked undermining efficiency. But researchers found that the view was not justified with any real reasons or evidence.

While acknowledging the Army had made good progress in its equal opportunities policy, the media image of women soldiers as sexy or tomboyish was reinforced in policy documentation and publicity material, they said.

An MoD spokesman said: "The Army has come a long way in the past decade. In terms of policy, we will look at this report carefully and its recommendations."