THERE are legitimate concerns over the Army's investigation into four deaths in seven years at the Royal Logistics Corps headquarters in Deepcut, Surrey.

And it is wrong for the Army to hide behind a cloak of secrecy over the issue.

There must be respect for the need of the armed forces to control information on matters relevant to the security of the nation.

But it is difficult to see what issues of national security can be involved in the suspicious deaths of recruits not on active service.

The Army's stubborn refusal to respond to legitimate questions raises the suspicion that there may be something to hide.

It is surely in the interests of the families of these dead soldiers for the Army to disclose all the information and evidence it has gathered. And it is also in the wider public interest.

If the parents are satisfied with the outcome of the Army's investigation, then the matter will rest. If they are not, then a third party should be brought in by the Ministry of Defence to re-open inquiries.

The Army's reluctance to engage in a debate over these deaths has brought into question its investigations of other fatalities.

For the sake of morale within the armed forces it is essential these lingering doubts are removed.

Increasingly, there has been criticism of authorities and organisations investigating themselves.

As the medical and police professions have found, public confidence in self-regulation is negligible. The same is true of the armed forces.

Military police may be well trained and equipped to handle routine situations, but it is clear they have neither the resources nor the expertise to investigate the deaths of armed services personnel.

Such investigations must be carried out with the same degree of rigour and objectivity as those into any other fatality.

The fatalities at Deepcut Barracks have brought into question the ability of the armed forces to conduct investigations to an appropriate standard and with sufficient attention to detail.

Crucially, from now on, suspicions of a possible cover-up with persist.

It is surely time for deaths in barracks to be investigated by civilian police forces, according to the normal rule of law.