Trainee officer figures plunge after pay axed

Average attendance for February was 1,387, down from 2,946 last year, the latest figures show in what the Tories said could lead to recruitment shortages in future for the military.

Army chiefs last year cut all but travel and subsistence payments for young people taking part in the scheme in a bid to save 3m from cash-strapped Ministry of Defence budgets.

An internal paper warned there "may be a downstream impact on Regular Officer recruiting".

Shadow Defence Secretary Liam Fox said: "We could be storing up serious future problems in recruitment, and all because Labour is totally incapable of managing the defence budget."

The MoD played down the impact of the change at a time when recruitment was at a five-year high. "Training in the University Officer Training Corps is continuing but we need to balance spending to focus on the highest priorities – particularly operations in Afghanistan," a spokesman said.