CAMPAIGNERS demanded a public inquiry after a leading Ministry of Defence doctor became the first expert to directly link vaccines given to soldiers before the first Gulf War to severe health problems.

Lieutenant Colonel Graham Howe said the cocktail of medicines have caused a range of debilitating illnesses, which later became known as Gulf War Syndrome.

The intervention of Lt Col Howe, clinical director of psychiatry with the British Forces Health Service in Germany, was last night welcomed by former soldiers and veterans' group officials in the North-East.

But the Ministry of Defence has denied for 13 years that vaccines could be blamed for the diseases, while independent research has also failed to find conclusive proof of a link.

Larry Cammock, chairman of the Gulf War Veterans Association in Newcastle, said: "This can only help our case and it is about time there was a full public inquiry into this.

"For a long time there have been denials that the illnesses had anything to do with the vaccines but it is becoming more and more evident that they do.

"The more people who come forward and start telling the truth the better off our lads will be because they will be receiving proper treatment."

Ex-soldier Chris Lines, from Hartlepool, said: "With developments like these, I think it's only a matter of time before the conditions and their causes are properly recognised.

A former private with the 43rd Royal Ordnance Corps, Mr Lines blames the cocktail of vaccinations he took before flying to the Gulf in 1991 for ruining his life.

He now suffers from aching joints, migraines, memory loss, mood swings, depression and stomach pains and has a claim lodged against the MoD.

Mr Lines, 34, has been unable to hold down full-time employment since being medically discharged from the Army after five years of service in 1994.

Lt Col Howe got involved in the controversy when he was asked to look at the case of former Royal Angineer Alex Izett, who suffered osteoporosis, which later turned to depression.

The former Lance-Corporal had inoculations prior to the conflict, but, significantly, never went to Iraq and was not exposed to any other form of toxins - leaving no other possible cause for his condition.

Lt Col Howe's report also highlighted "high incidence" of osteoporosis in people who served in Iraq and that the "common denominator that links him to Gulf War vets are the vaccinations he received prior to deployment".

Mr Izett, 33, who now lives in Bersenbruck, near Bremen, in Germany, was inoculated like other troops against anthrax, botulism and other biological agents.