The restructuring will spell the end for one Scottish regiment

The number of infantry regiments in the UK is to be cut from 40 to 36. One of those to go must be in Scotland.

The six colonels are believed to be planning a single regiment, made up of five battalions. Each would keep the head-dress of its previous incarnation.

The Royal Scots, the oldest in the British Army, is widely thought to be the battalion which will be lost.

The colonels will present their decision to the Army board.

To make a concise decision on what they are actually doing is very difficult when everything is behind a smokescreen Anne MacMillan Save the Scottish Regiments

A final announcement will be made before Christmas and the changes will come into force by 2008.

An army spokeswoman said Monday's meeting was part of the initial discussions about the future of the Scottish Division and that no formal comment would be made afterwards.

Campaigners and some Scottish politicians have opposed the cuts, which were proposed by the Defence Secretary, Geoff Hoon, in July.

The Save the Scottish Regiments group is planning to field candidates against Labour at the next general election if the reductions go through.

'Smokescreen' claim

Its organiser Jeff Duncan is to stand as a candidate in Dundee West, the seat currently held by the Labour MP Ernie Ross, who is standing down.

Anne MacMillan, from the campaign, said not everyone had had their say on the proposals.

"Because so much is being done behind a smokescreen I don't know how much information we are not actually getting," she told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme.

"To make a concise decision on what they are actually doing is very difficult when everything is behind a smokescreen."

She said the campaign would be organising its own, independent survey of serving soldiers, veterans, associations and political leaders starting on the day of a rally in Dundee on 23 October.