The head of the British Army has demanded a pay rise for troops following revelations that some soldiers are so hard-up they cannot afford to eat properly.

General Sir Richard Dannatt, the Chief of the General Staff, said servicemen and women were putting their lives on the line while being paid less than traffic wardens.

His remarks come after an Army briefing paper last month warned that increasing numbers of soldiers are now close to the Government's definition of poverty.

It found that growing numbers were being forced to leave the service because they could not afford to bring up a family on Army wages and in some cases soldiers were having to survive on emergency food vouchers.

In an exclusive interview with The Sun newspaper while visiting troops in Afghanistan this week, Gen Dannatt said: "If you compare a police constable on overtime, I think you will find that an individual serviceman gets quite a lot less.

"I am pleased that we had above inflation pay rises over the last couple of years and I think this years pay rise which reflected an increase in the X factor the additional bit of money that servicemen are paid I think it was appropriate to do that. I think we need to keep service pay constantly under review and I would like to see it going up above inflation for the next couple of years."

He said more money must be spent on the Armed Forces for the UK to win the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"I'd like to see service pay go up above inflation for the next couple of years and keep going up if this level of commitment continues.

"Servicemen go on operations knowing they are putting their lives on the line. It is very hard to put a price on that."

A soldier's starting salary is £12,572 a year, the paper says, compared with a traffic warden's basic wage of £17,000.

As well as calling for better pay, Gen Dannatt said more cash was needed to improve soldiers' welfare and housing.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said that soldiers earn not only pay but also other benefits, including housing, food, tax relief, operational allowances and boarding school allowance.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said the Government would do "everything in our power" in the coming years to recognise the contribution of members of the armed forces.

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