BULLIED squaddies will be able to report the abuse to an independent investigator following the scandals at Deepcut and Catterick, it will be announced today.

The Ministry of Defence will unveil a Bill promising that a civilian from outside the Army chain of command will sit on its complaints panels for the first time.

It follows condemnation of Army chiefs for failing vulnerable young recruits by not taking their suffering at the hands of bullies seriously.

The MoD was accused of being "obsessed with the chain of command" and of putting the need to prepare troops for the horrors of war ahead of their duty of care during training.

But the "independent element" on the panels will not satisfy MPs and the parents of bullied recruits who have demanded the Army be stripped of any investigating role.

There were doubts last night whether the Armed Forces Bill would ensure a non-military representative would sit on all - rather than some - complaints panels.

The ministry was also expected to reject demands for all training camps to have independent counsellors, insisting that troubled recruits can talk to Army padres.

The new set-up will almost certainly not be retrospective, ruling out any investigation of soldiers' deaths at Deepcut and Catterick barracks.

It may not be in place until 2008, even though the legislation is expected to receive Royal Assent by next autumn.

The death of Private Geoff Gray, of Seaham, County Durham, from gunshot wounds at Deepcut barracks, Surrey, in 2001, brought the issue of bullying to prominence. Parents of recruits at Catterick, in North Yorkshire, have also given evidence.

The defence committee's report, last March, demanded an independent complaints commission to prevent the Army investigating itself.