AN MP has said he is concerned an increase in the size of the Territorial Army could lead to cuts in the regular force.

Former officer Richard Drax spoke out after it emerged a six month long study, commissioned by the government, will recommend changing the balance.

At present, there are 15 TA soldiers for every 85 regulars. However the Future Reserves 2020 study wants those figures to be more like America, where it is 50:50.

Mr Drax, Conservative member for South Dorset, said: “I support an expansion of the TA in principle.

“But in practice my concern is that it would be to the detriment of the regular services, because of the budgetary implications.

“Our armed forces are already being cut right to the bone.”

The regular army is due to lose 7,000 men by 2015, giving it strength of 95,000. Around 2,100 servicemen and women are stationed in Dorset. The TA currently has around 35,000 soldiers nationally.

Mr Drax noted different levels of funding in the UK and America.

“I recently met a very senior American officer. He said around a third of their troops on the ground in Iraq were reservists,” he said.

“But he also said they have a hangar with Hercules transport craft as far as the eye can see, ready to go, specifically for the reservists.

“We have hardly got enough for our regular forces,” said Mr Drax, a former Coldstream Guards officer.

The TA battalion 6 Rifles has a detachment on Wallisdown Road.

Riflemen Matt Berry, from Strouden Park, Bournemouth, and Mark Parry, from Boscombe, are currently serving with 1 Rifles in Afghanistan.

The Royal Wessex Yeomanry, based at Bovington, sent a 25-strong detachment to Afghanistan last year.

There is also a reserve SAS unit based in Poole.