POLICE confirmed last night that an officer had been taken off an investigation into the death of a North-East soldier.

The Surrey police officer had been involved in the probe into the death of Private Geoff Gray, 17, of Seaham, County Durham, and three other soldiers at Deepcut Barracks, in Surrey.

A police spokesman said: "A detective constable has been removed from the inquiry team after an allegation of inappropriate behaviour. The officer was removed from the inquiry immediately after the allegations were made and resigned from Surrey Police, prior to appearing for a disciplinary hearing."

Surrey Police declined to comment further on the nature of the allegations or whether the alleged misconduct took place during the officer's investigations.

The inquiry is examining the circumstances surrounding the deaths of four soldiers at the barracks between 1995 and 2002.

Their families do not believe they committed suicide by turning their own rifles on themselves, as Army investigations found.

Surrey Police have spent a year re-examining the evidence, along with an independent investigator, Frank Swann, hired by the families of the dead soldiers.