MASSIVE cash incentives are being stumped up by the army in an attempt to plug a serious manpower shortage in Colchester’s famed Parachute Regiment.

According to a report published in the Daily Mail, bonus payments of £7,500 are being doled out to Army privates so they can be lured to the Paras, which was formed during the Second World War.

Privates receive a basic salary of £23,496, meaning the £7,500 bonus represents approximately a third of their annual pay packet.

The size of the one-off fee would seem to suggest the Paras are facing a shortage in troops at a time when the number of serving soldiers is falling across the army.

Gazette: Essential – the Parachute regiment acts as the British Army's global response forceEssential – the Parachute regiment acts as the British Army's global response force (Image: British Army)

The number of regular soldiers in the army sits at 76,000 compared to 97,000 ten years ago, and the number is expected to fall yet further.

Britain’s defence budget is also dwindling, with the Telegraph reporting last year that spending is on course to fall by £2.5 billion in real terms by 2025 based on forecasts from the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

The Colchester-based Paras, which is made up of three regular battalions, are the British Army’s global response unit in both combat and non-combat situations.

In August 2021, for example, Colchester troops helped evacuate thousands of people from the Middle East as part of a rescue mission in Kabul, and in May, paratroopers were hours away from conducting a parachute drop in Sudan.

But a British Army spokesman said 2 and 3 Para have enough soldiers and is looking to take troops from other regiments where there is a surplus.

Gazette: Dangerous – the Paras were deployed to Afghanistan in 2021 as part of the evacuation of KabulDangerous – the Paras were deployed to Afghanistan in 2021 as part of the evacuation of Kabul (Image: British Army)

He said: “The 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the Parachute Regiment have the required personnel to meet their operational commitments.

“As part of an initiative to maintain trained strength in the Parachute Regiment and take advantage of surplus numbers in other areas of the infantry, a financial offer is being introduced to incentivise private soldiers to transfer.”

The spokesman added this is common practice across the army where there is a personnel surplus.

He said: “Such incentives are part of routine Army business and have been offered previously across other branches of the Army.”