THE residents of Wootton Bassett will once again line the streets next month – but this time for a parade in their honour.

Solemn crowds gathered in High Street have become an all too familiar sight over the last 18 months as more than 40 repatriations of military personnel who have lost their lives in Iraq and Aghanistan have passed through the town.

But while those living in Wootton Bassett and the surrounding towns have seen the gesture nothing short of their duty, members of the armed forces have been deeply touched by the compassion and respect the town has shown its fallen heroes.

And as a result, service personnel from RAF Lyneham, the Army and Royal Navy will march through High Street on , October 12 as part of an appreciation parade.

“All members of the Armed Forces recognise the great dignity and respect that the people of Wootton Bassett have shown in paying their respects to the funeral corteges of personnel who have been killed in service and who have been repatriated through RAF Lyneham.” said Flt Lt Louise Daly of RAF Lyneham “The fact that up to 1,000 members of the public are regularly mobilised to line the streets has been the subject of much national media coverage and has been one beacon in the current theme of how the Armed Forces are being supported by the general population.”

The parade will take place between 1.45pm and 3.30pm when the road will be closed and military bands will form to begin their march.

Former Wootton Bassett mayor Audrey Wannell, Royal British Legion Secretary Anne Bevis and former Wootton Bassett police inspector Mark Levitt have received dozens of letters and emails from people all over the world, thanking residents for the compassion they have shown in what has been one of the hardest years for the British Forces in Afghanistan.

Army chief General Sir Richard Dannatt also thanked residents for their continued pilgrimage to Wootton Bassett War Memorial.