THE father of a North-East soldier found shot dead at his barracks predicts an official inquiry by MPs could embarrass Army top brass.

Private Geoff Gray, 17, was one of four recruits to have died in mysterious circumstances at the Royal Logistics Corps headquarters in Deepcut, Surrey, in the past seven years.

The Army says the deaths, at the Princess Royal Barracks, were suicides. But police recently decided to reopen two of the cases, including that of County Durham-born Pte Gray, at whose inquest the coroner recorded an open verdict.

Surrey detectives are now also to re-examine the circumstances of the other two deaths.

The House of Commons defence select committee has taken the unusual step of announcing it will stage an independent inquiry into events at the base as soon as the police inquiry is completed.

Pte Gray, brought up in Seaham, died from two gunshot wounds to the head while on guard duty last September.

Unexplained circumstances relating to his death, including a report of a man seen running from the scene, have baffled his family.

Pte Gray's father, also Geoff, and mother Diane have campaigned for a public inquiry into the deaths.

Hearing of the defence committee inquiry, Mr Gray said: "It's brilliant news. This gives us more impetus to get a public inquiry into Geoff's death.

"This is not just a token investigation and will go deep into what has been going on at Deepcut.

"From a political perspective it's about as far as it can go. The committee has the power to investigate the entire Army base and to take the highest ranking people to task over this.

"At the end of the day, people could lose their jobs."

Defence committee member and North Durham MP Kevan Jones said the four deaths had raised "serious concerns" among fellow members.

He said: "We hope our inquiry can give some comfort to the families."

Surrey Police are also reinvestigating the Deepcut death of 17-year-old Private James Collinson, from Perth, Scotland, in March, while the 1995 deaths of Private Sean Benton, 20, from Hastings, Sussex, and 18-year-old Cheryl James, from Llangollen, Wales, will also be re-examined.