AN inquiry was launched last night into new claims of military abuse after video footage emerged showing the apparent bullying of young recruits.

The pictures, filmed by a soldier at the Army's School of Infantry, in Catterick, North Yorkshire, show recruits hooded and forced to assume humiliating poses.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman confirmed that Royal Military Police were examining claims of abuse and said the allegations were serious.

He said: "The MoD takes allegations extremely seriously and wants to get to the truth."

Recorded last year, the images have uncomfortable echoes of pictures of the abuse of detainees in Iraq.

In one section, young soldiers are seen in hoods, with their hands above their head and their faces pressed against a wall.

Parts of the film show a soldier pushing his boot into a recruit's neck, and others depict hooded recruits forced into humiliating positions.

In one section, an infantryman is forced to sit on a colleague's face.

Lee McDonald, a regular soldier who is absent without leave from the barracks, told the BBC that abuse was routine at Catterick.

He said: "It scares me now, the thought of going back there. I'd be scared to retaliate.

"Imagine going to work every day and not knowing what's going to happen, thinking 'Where I am going to get hit today? The face, the chest?'."

The criticisms follow a call by the House of Commons Defence Committee for the creation of an independent military complaints commission able to mount investigations into abuse and bullying.

Politicians made the suggestion in March and accused the armed forces of failing in their "duty of care" to recruits.

A report said that the military had displayed a lack of understanding about their responsibilities throughout the entire chain of command.

The MoD rejected the recommendation, claiming such a move would seriously compromise the forces' manning levels and operational capability.

It also dismissed a suggestion by the committee to consider raising the joining age for recruits from 16 to 18.

Parents of young soldiers who died at the Deepcut army barracks, in Surrey, repeated their calls for a public inquiry into the issue.

Geoff Gray, whose son - from Seaham, County Durham - also called Geoff, died at Deepcut, said the footage highlighted the bullying problem.

"We have seen blatant bullying of young recruits. You will not get the best army in the world by bullying our recruits."

Comparing the images to abuses by US forces in an Iraqi prison camp he said: "I would not expect soldiers to treat people in Abu Ghraib like that, never mind our own children."

He added: "I think this type of video is only the tip of the iceberg."

Mr Gray said the Army was "covering up" the extent of the problems.

"The only way to get anywhere near to the truth is to have a public inquiry."

Des James, whose daughter, Cheryl, died at Deepcut, said the new footage did not surprise him, and there was a "major problem" in the Army.

He said: "I have seen extensive evidence of bullying in the British Army, and until we are allowed a public inquiry we are never even going to scratch the surface."

Shami Chakrabarti, director of human rights group Liberty, said: "The degrading footage of Army recruits is alarmingly similar to images that have come out of Iraq.

"The pictures depict not just a breach of fundamental human rights, but a profound lack of discipline which should be of concern to everyone."