ARMED Forces minister Adam Ingram has refused to meet the parents of soldiers who died at a North-East Army base.

Families of young men found dead at Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire, had requested a meeting with the minister to discuss their concerns about the deaths.

Mr Ingram has already agreed to meet the parents of Private Geoff Gray, of Seaham, County Durham and three other soldiers who died at Deepcut, in Surrey.

In a letter sent to one of the Catterick families, Mr Ingram said he did not think it would be helpful to extend the invitation to other parents.

Lynn Farr, mother of Private Daniel Farr who died at Catterick Garrison in 1997, said last night the families felt snubbed by the minister's decision.

She said: "In a way I am not surprised. I think we knew what his answer would be.

"We do feel snubbed. Our sons have died too and we want answers. When is the Ministry of Defence going to realise that this is not just a Deepcut problem.

"It is a country-wide problem and there are families throughout the UK in the same position as ourselves.

"We requested a meeting with the minister to talk about our concerns, but it appears that he does not want to listen at this time."

Mr Ingram said in his letter that the purpose of his meeting with the Deepcut families was to discuss any concerns they may have following the closure of the Surrey police investigation into the deaths.

He indicated that he may meet with Catterick families in the future.

Geoff Gray, father of 17-year-old Pte Gray who died of gunshot wounds, has criticised the invitation, saying it has come too late.

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Defence said: "The minister has always been open to people contacting him.

"I think a joint meeting is not appropriate. They are two separate bases and because of that it would be inappropriate to have both sets of families from different bases together.

"That undermines the importance of Catterick in its own right. The minister is not refusing to meet them. In the future I am sure he would do that."

The Catterick and Deepcut families are calling for a public inquiry into all non-combat deaths across UK Army bases, a move backed by The Northern Echo.