THE Army last night defended its policy on cosmetic surgery, after it was revealed that a female soldier at the North-East's largest military base received a free breast enlargement operation.

Lance Corporal Angela Inglis, of the Adjutant General Corps, based at Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire, became the first female soldier to receive such an operation funded by the armed forces, increasing her bust from 32A to 32C.

Since the operation seven years ago, 11 other women in the forces have received the same operation, costing more than £2,000 each and paid for from the defence budget.

L Cpl Inglis, who has since been on tours of Cyprus and the Falkland Islands, was granted the operation after taunts from colleagues. She said she had suffered stress as a result, and had the operation at a London hospital.

It was carried out at the Queen Elizabeth Military Hospital in Woolwich, London, after a wait of two years.

Last night, Army spokeswoman Allison Potter-Drake said those working in the forces were granted the same right to cosmetic operations as patients on the NHS.

But she stressed there had to be a genuine medical reason for the surgery.

"The services have dentists and doctors in the same way that the NHS does. There is a budget for medical services, and you would have to put forward a bid to fund a cosmetic operation," she said.

She refused to confirm whether L Cpl Inglis was still at Catterick.

Amid claims that in addition to breast enlargement operations, four service people have been helped to have sex changes, critics have accused the Ministry of Defence of pandering to political correctness.