A would-be recruit to the Welsh Guards has been turned down for military service after failing the regimental curry test.

Stephen Hudson, 21, from Valley, Anglesey, thought that he had satisfied the selection board, but he fell at the last fence when he confessed in a medical questionnaire to an allergic reaction to coconut and cardamom, two key ingredients in an authentically prepared sauce.

The hopeful soldier does not even like curry, so the rejection letter which landed on his doorstep hit him with all the force of a hot vindaloo.

“Dear Mr Hudson,” it said, “I regret to inform you that after reviewing your medical history on the evidence available to us you do not meet the current Army medical standard and therefore you are not eligible for military service.”

It gave the reason as: “Severe allergic reaction in 2003 to curry, requiring hospital treatment”.

Four years ago Mr Hudson and his family visited a Chinese restaurant to celebrate his birthday.

“We were all tasting each other’s food,” Mr Hudson said yesterday. “My aunt told me to try her curry, but I never really eat curry because I don’t like it much. I tried a bit, but the next day I ended up in hospital. My throat had closed up and my lips wouldn’t open.”

Doctors diagnosed a severe allergic reaction, and he has steered well clear of curry ever since.

“I’m devastated. I really want to serve my country. I was going to be a driver with the Welsh Guards, and maybe go on to do engineering. I got all the information, all the DVDs about the regiment. It would have meant everything to me,” Mr Hudson said. “It must be something to do with ration packs.”

The Ministry of Defence refused to discuss Mr Hudson’s case yesterday, but confirmed that an applicant could be refused entry because of an allergy.

“Anyone who is turned down from enlisting to the Army on medical grounds, whatever the case may be, receives a letter from Army Development and Selection Centre, which gives full details of the reasons behind the decision,” an MoD spokesman said. Mr Hudson would now be sent a second letter explaining in detail why they could not employ someone with an allergy, the spokesman added.

Mr Hudson said: “I want to fight for my country. It’s not like I’m going to be fighting a curry. But they said there was no way of appealing.”

Deeply disappointed, he now plans to retrain in a skilled trade such as plumbing, where curry does not figure in the entrance qualifications.

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