Sussex MP Nicholas Soames was today leading Tory calls for the resignation of embattled Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon.

The Mid Sussex MP wrote to Mr Hoon with a series of stinging criticisms over the failure of equipment to reach troops fighting in Iraq.

A National Audit Office report in December found that some frontline units did not receive body armour, bio-chemical warfare suits and desert uniforms during last year's conflict.

The Ministry of Defence later confirmed that Sgt Steven Roberts, who was shot dead in the early days of the war, had been ordered to hand over body armour which would have saved his life to a tank regiment which did not have enough.Mr Soames, shadow defence secretary, said the report showed Mr Hoon was "complacent and inaccurate" when he told a Parliamentary committee in May that enough clothing and protective equipment had reached the theatre of operations.

Following the publication of the NAO report, the Defence Secretary admitted the armed forces did not have "a sufficiently capable tracking system to make sure the equipment was then delivered to the forces as and when they required it".

In his letter, Mr Soames wrote: "The truth is that insufficient sets of body armour and other vital life-saving equipment were distributed in theatre, greatly endangering our soldiers and, in the case of Sgt Roberts, costing him his life.

"It is clear that the only honourable way forward for you is to consider your position."

The NAO found that some British tanks and other armoured vehicles in Iraq were not fitted with filters to protect troops against nuclear, biological and chemical attack.