Matthew Bulley says he should have been given ear plugs

Matthew Bulley, 21, from Newport, south Wales, says he should have been given ear plugs to protect his ears.

He has now left the army and is rebuilding his life as a student but said the MoD had deprived him of the career he had set his heart on.

But the MoD said it could not comment on individual cases.

Mr Bulley said he was devastated when he realised he would not be able to stay in the Army.

"I thought I'd be a disappointment to people, to my family. I was just mortified."

Mr Bulley said he went on a live firing course during the last two weeks of his training.

"We were firing grenades, firing mortars, machine guns, you name it, we fired it and I absolutely loved it. I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread."

It's taken me two and a half years to get this far and I've just been pushed from pillar to post Matthew Bulley

He said soon afterwards he realised that his hearing had been damaged.

'Buzzing noise'

"There was like a buzzing noise in my left ear and it didn't go away," he said.

"When I got back to the barracks I went for a full medical and found that I was deaf in my left ear.

"We were given bog standard ear defenders, which weren't brilliant but they were supposed to do the job. We were meant to be given ear plugs but we weren't.

"I didn't know until I did some research that you were meant to wear both sets of ear defenders when you're doing live firing."

He said his hearing was now very poor and could get worse.

"The doctor has told me that over time my hearing will get a lot worse because my right ear is doing all the work for my left ear, so I'll be left in 20 years' time with no hearing at all."

He said he had decided to sue the MoD because he felt that someone should take the blame.

He said: "It's taken me two and a half years to get this far and I've just been pushed from pillar to post.

"Nobody has stood up and said 'Yeah, we can see what's happened'.

"I haven't had any correspondence with MoD at all and they haven't said anything.

"They just don't seem to be doing anything," he added.

In a statement the Ministry of Defence said it could not comment on individual cases.