HUNDREDS of the region’s part-time soldiers face the axe in a shake-up designed to make the Territorial Army better prepared for war.

The posts will lost from signals units based in Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough and Newcastle whose technology is now obsolete, the Ministry of Defence said.

Ministers pledged the reservists affected would be offered alternative positions within the TA “where possible” - and denied the motivation was cost-cutting.

With 2,000 posts to go across the country, they are yet to decide exactly where the axe will fall. However, the regiments affected will include: * 34 Sig Regt (V) 50 Sig Sqn, Darlington * 34 Sig Regt (V) 90 Sig Sqn, Hartlepool * 34 Sig Regt (V), Middlesbrough * 34 Sig Regt (V) REME LAD, Middlesbrough * 34 Sig Regt (V) 90 Sig Sqn Det, Middlesbrough * 34 Sig Regt (V) 50 Sig Sqn Det, Newcastle Defence minister Bob Ainsworth said the decision was “not taken lightly”, but insisted the communications equipment they were formed to operate was no longer needed.

He told MPs: “We are very aware of the exceptional contribution made by the Royal Signals within the TA, but we must focus resources where we need them most.

“Where possible, those affected by the decision will be offered other opportunities within the TA and we will be conducting further work to decide the most effective configuration for the TA Royal Signals.”

The cuts were announced alongside the conclusions of a year-long review of the reserves, designed to make the troops “better trained, better organised and more deployable”, Mr Ainsworth said.

He described the “weekend warrior” image of reservists as “old fashioned”, insisting that TA members were keen to use their skills in theatre.

Training would prepare reserve forces for an active role in overseas operations and would be structured to ensure troops are ready for mobilisation within three years.

Efforts to work more closely with private employers - for example, to give them more notice about mobilisation - would be stepped up.

And property and buildings which were no longer suitable for use, or in a poor condition, would be sold off as part of a rationalisation.

Mr Ainsworth said: “The demands faced by our reservists have changed considerably yet the structures, training and organisation of our reserve forces have not. They now need to be overhauled.

“The force doesn’t exist in the way that it did in the old days, by merely and only being a defence of last resort against national catastrophe and the Russians coming across the plains.”

The Conservatives welcomed the “genuine attempt” to improve and speed up basic training for reservists, but criticised the lack of detail about much-needed improvements to the welfare of reservists.