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He said the problem of "overstretch" had been caused by asking them to do more than was planned for in the Strategic Defence Review. 

The Government was aware of the problem and was also looking at ways of paying servicemen and women as much as public finances could afford, Mr Hoon told GMTV's The Sunday Programme with Alistair Stewart. 

Since the SDR, designed to make Britain's defence capability leaner and more flexible, was completed last year under former Defence Secretary Lord Robertson, British forces had taken on more peacekeeping commitments in areas including Kosovo and East Timor. 

"I've talked about overstretch which is the word we use to describe this - it essentially means asking our armed forces to do more than perhaps we originally contemplated at the time of the Strategic Defence Review. 

"Now that is having consequences, in particular I think for service families," he said. 

"It does mean that they are spending more and more time away from home, are being moved from one theatre to another and it is very important that we recognise that and we are certainly seeking to address that as a matter of some urgency." 

He stressed: "I think what we have to do is to get back to the levels of service that we anticipated at the time of the Strategic Defence Review, to try and make sure that we don't ask more of our armed forces than we then contemplated and certainly I regard that as being one of my responsibilities." 

Mr Hoon gave no commitment that the financial rewards available to soldiers, Royal Navy crews and Royal Air Force personnel were set to rise. 

But he said: "Certainly we are looking at specific ways in which we can reward our armed forces both for remaining within the service - for longer than perhaps they had originally contemplated - but also for the kinds of pressures, specifically, these extra commitments places upon them and their families."