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Thousands of British troops with mental health problems are unfit for combat, says the Ministry of Defence.

Its figures show 3,500 serving ­personnel, roughly one in every 40, have been diagnosed with mental illness and ­medically downgraded.

Of those, 500 troops have post-­traumatic stress disorder after serving in Iraq, Afghanistan or other war zones.

General the Lord Dannatt, former head of the Army, called the figures obtained under freedom of information rules “very concerning”.

The stats come as a growing number of serving and ex-troops are feared to have killed themselves because of PTSD – at least seven this year and 80 in 2018.

(Image: Nicholas Bowman/Sunday Mirror)

There has also been a rise in the ­number of personnel with mental health disorders in the past decade.

In 2007-8, 3,557 were diagnosed and 4,886 in 2018, even though there were 40,000 fewer in the armed forces.

Troops were downgraded temporarily, or permanently, for depression, mood and adjustment disorders and psycho­active substance abuse as well as PTSD.

In total, 35,000 of the UK’s 145,000 troops have been medically ­downgraded for physical and mental health problems.

They are limited in roles they can perform on ­exercises and operations abroad.

Lord Dannatt said:“I am very concerned by the rise in the ­number of Armed Forces personnel suffering from mental health issues.”

He said this may reflect a better understanding of mental health and willingness to come forward but “all is not well in Defence”.

(Image: Getty)

He said: “All three services are widely committed on operations, overseas deployments and ­training, putting pressure on individuals and their families.

“I’m not convinced enough is being spent on personnel matters such as good housing, barrack maintenance, allowances to mitigate some of the difficult ­circumstances of service life and general welfare.

"I fear the tightness of the MoD budget is now beginning to have a major negative effect on service people.”

The Sunday People’s Save Our Soldiers ­campaign is fighting for better health care for our troops.

Former Royal Marine Sergeant Major Jeff Williams, who runs the Veterans United Against Suicide group, said: “These figures are the tip of the iceberg.

"If something is not done, the numbers of suicides in the serving and veterans ­communities is only going to get worse.”

An MOD spokesman said: “We take the mental wellbeing of our service personnel extremely ­seriously and urge anyone struggling to come forward and access care they deserve.”