The mother of a North-East soldier found hanged at an Army base believes her daughter was driven to her death by bullies.

Speaking for the first time, Patricia Cookson said that her daughter, Krystle, had been targeted by other soldiers in the months before she died at Blandford Camp, Dorset.

The 19-year-old, from Port Clarence, Middlesbrough, was due to be promoted to lance corporal and transferred to York shortly before she was found dead in a toilet block in the early hours.

Mrs Cookson said she spoke to her daughter, described by the Army as an outstanding junior soldier, the day before she died and said she was her usual self.

But she revealed the former St Michael's School pupil had told her family she was being hounded by other soldiers. Speaking from her home in Samphire Way, Mrs Cookson said: "It had been going on for a while. She said two or three of them were ganging up on her.

"I said I would speak to someone at the base. I told her I was concerned, but she said no, that it would only make things worse. "She was adamant she could handle it. She told me she could deal with it herself."

Signaller Krystle had been out celebrating passing a test on the night she died.

She returned to the base but became embroiled in an argument over a trivial matter before hanging herself.

Mrs Cookson told an inquest into her death last month that her daughter had spoken of being ganged up on, but police said they could find no evidence she had been subjected to bullying.

West Dorset Coroner Michael Johnston said he did not believe the young soldier intended to take her life and recorded an open verdict.

Mrs Cookson said: "They said the argument was over trivial things, but how could it have been trivial if it led to this?

"There was no record of bullying because Krystle did not report it to the Army.

"I will never get over what has happened. I think she was driven to it. The pain I feel is terrible."

An Army obituary described Krystle as having considerable potential and said she displayed all the characteristics of an outstanding soldier. She excelled at sports and was the only girl to take part in a gruelling log race event at the Gordon's cup military skills competition at Blandford in January.

In a tearful tribute, Mrs Cookson said: "It is a tremendous loss. She had so much to offer and she was loved by everyone who knew her."