Deepcut to be sold as 'eco' town site

By JONATHAN OLIVER

Last updated at 21:55 05 January 2008


Deepcut the notorious barracks where four young soldiers were shot dead in suspicious circumstances, is to be shut down and developed as a new "eco town".

Defence Secretary Des Browne will this week announce the base at Camberley - which has been at the centre of a series of allegations of bullying and abuse - is "surplus to requirements".

But the move will meet with criticism from Army chiefs who claim Deepcut has successfully reformed its culture and that its closure would be another example of Labour defence cuts.

A series of shootings between 1995 and 2002 turned the Surrey headquarters of the Royal Logistic Corps into a byword for Army brutality.

Initially the deaths of Privates Sean Benton, 20, Cheryl James, 18, Geoff Gray, 17, and James Collinson, also 17, were treated as suicides.

But following pressure from the victims' families, a civilian police inquiry was launched. It failed to find evidence of murder but raised "concerns" about the "care and supervision of trainee soldiers".

Further official probes uncovered dozens more abuse claims, including allegations of gang rapes.

In 2004, training instructor Leslie Skinner was jailed for four-and-a-half years for indecently assaulting young recruits.

He admitted five indecent assaults between 1992 and 1997 on four male soldiers.

As part of a wider review of Army training, Mr Browne will announce that Deepcut will be wound down over the next seven years.

Much of the training carried out there will be privatised and other jobs will be moved to Wales.

The base occupies a prime site in a commuter area and the land will be sold to developers, who could build up to 5,000 new homes there.

The Prime Minister Gordon Brown has promised that surplus military land will be earmarked for so-called "eco towns" - new settlements built on sustainable, environmentally friendly principles.

Tory frontbencher Michael Gove, whose Surrey Heath constituency includes Deepcut, said: "At a time when this Government's support for the military is in question, this is the last thing we need."

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