Pte Long is determined to stay with her regiment in Kuwait

Private Jenny Long, 20, from Hull, was a driver at the Bicester Army depot in Oxfordshire when she received the demand to join the regulars in Kuwait in February.

But when she approached a senior officer to sign her release papers, she was told that she would be given two-weeks unpaid notice and her job would not be held once she returned to England.

A spokesman for the MoD said an investigation would be held to see if a mistake had been made.

'Protection given'

Pte Long says she was told that, as she was on a 52-week contract, the MoD had no obligation to preserve her job.

Now in Kuwait as part of the UK 1st Armoured Brigade, Pte Long is determined to remain with her regiment in the hope that her employers will reconsider their decision.

She said: "Even if they are legally correct that they didn't have to keep my job for me, the Army, above all employers, surely has a moral duty to make sure I'm looked after.

"I am prepared to answer the call of my country in a time of great hostility but the very same people who have sent me here have decided to reward me by taking my job away."

A MoD spokesman said : "We want to investigate this case further because under the Reserved Forces Act protection of employment is given to personnel.

"We want to make sure the circumstances are properly understood and if there has been any sort of mistake it should be put right and she should get her job back."