MILITARY reservists in the town joined their colleagues in a march as their Squadron was granted the freedom of a London borough.

Twenty-nine Territorial Army soldiers from Swindon’s Royal Yeomanry Squadron joined colleagues from their four sister squadrons to exercise the regiment’s recently awarded Freedom by marching through the streets of Hammersmith and Fulham.

The accolade is the highest honour Hammersmith and Fulham Council can bestow on any person or group, and is traditionally the way a town acknowledges the contribution of the armed forces in their locality.

The freedom, which dates back hundreds of years, is given by the mayor and allows the military unit to march through the borough’s streets with colours flying and bayonets fixed.

The parade included 150 marching soldiers in total, made up of the Royal Yeomanry regimental band, standard bearers, armoured vehicles and soldiers on horseback. The parade began following a church service for soldiers and their families to both celebrate the Freedom of the Borough and to give thanks for the safe return of members of the Royal Yeomanry from Afghanistan.

The Commanding Officer of the Royal Yeomanry, Lieutenant Colonel Newton Astbury said: “It is an honour and a privilege to have been awarded the freedom of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham.”