Battles damaged soldiers' hearing

Thirty-five out of 239 soldiers tested had hearing problems

Hundreds of soldiers cannot serve on the front line after their hearing was damaged during heavy fire-fights with the Taliban, a defence expert has said.

About 280 troops from the 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment were diagnosed with damaged eardrums, Newark MP and ex-soldier Patrick Mercer said.

The Ministry of Defence said out of 239 soldiers who had formal hearing tests after deployment, only 35 had problems.

The battalion returned from Helmand in southern Afghanistan last October.

Mr Mercer said the figures highlighted a "hidden crisis" in military strength caused by the dwindling number of deployable troops.

'In denial'

The troops recently all had routine medicals when they returned from fighting the Taliban in Helmand.

Mr Mercer said: "It was seen that about 280 soldiers from that battalion will not be able to deploy again because of damage to their hearing that they suffered during the very serious fighting this time last year."

Mid Norfolk MP Keith Simpson, shadow defence minister, said he understood the number of soldiers with hearing difficulties had been an issue and that low numbers of deployable troops was a "major problem".

He said: "One of the problems is that with today's high velocity weapons troops suffer an enormous amount of noise.

"Ear defenders cannot be used in action as you need to be able to hear everything.

"The solution is with technology, to develop wrap around helmets providing protection against extreme noise but which allow you to hear what you need to and have microphones."

Mr Mercer said the fighting strength of the Army was low because of the number of injured or sick troops and claimed the MoD was "in denial".

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "Of the 239 soldiers who had a formal hearing test following their deployment, only 35 were assessed to have hearing problems.

"They have been referred to specialists and it is too early to say whether they will be able to deploy in future."