British soldiers who persuade friends to join the infantry will be paid 500 pounds (about 900 US dollars) as part of an emergency campaign to halt a drastic decline in recruitment, the Sunday Telegraph reported.

The campaign will be launched during a six-week period over Christmas in an attempt to help to halt the recruitment dilemma.

A Ministry of Defense document obtained by the newspaper revealed that less than half the number of recruits needed will join this year.

The infantry is the most hit in the army as the majority of the 8,500 troops serving in Iraq come from the infantry, and the 3,200 who will be deployed to Afghanistan next April will come mainly from infantry battalions.

The document, drawn up by the infantry's headquarters, also shows that none of its eight divisions will meet their recruiting targets.

The document shows that the infantry -- which contains about 28,000 soldiers, is 1,859 men under strength, a figure that will increase to 2,288, about eight percent of the infantry, by next March. It also states that 38 of the 40 battalions are also under strength.

Although lack of money is one of the factors for recruitment difficulty, many officers also believed that the unpopularity of the war in Iraq had sent out negative messages to potential recruits.

The 500-pound incentive scheme has been introduced by the Army Training and Recruiting Agency. The payment will be made to soldiers who persuade friends or family to join and pass through training. The scheme will be a trial that could be extended if successful.

"The army is addressing its recruitment shortfall in several different areas. In particular, it is focusing on trying to attract more high-quality recruits -- thus reducing wastage during training -- and keeping retention levels steady," said a spokesman for the ministry.

Source: Xinhua