A FREEDOM Parade in honour of the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment is to be held in Kendal this Saturday, March 16.

Kendal Town Council said it was delighted and honoured to confirm the staging of the event, which will also feature a thanksgiving service at Kendal Parish Church, for the first time in eight years.

"This is a great opportunity to give the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment a very warm welcome to Kendal and thank them for their services which will never be forgotten,” said Kendal mayor Guy Tirvengadum.

"I am looking forward to this rare spectacle and I would like to encourage everyone to line the streets to show the regiment their appreciation and give them a very warm welcome.”

The Freedom of Kendal was granted to the regiment’s forerunner, the Border Regiment, in 1947, allowing it to march through the town, and around 120 members of the 4 Lancs Battalion, accompanied by the Band of the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, will be on parade on Saturday.

The parade will commence at 11.10am from County Hall and proceed down Stricklandgate, Highgate and Kirkland to the parish church for the thanksgiving service at noon.

The return parade will start at around 1.10pm with the inspection by the mayor outside Kendal Library, and members of the public are invited to line the streets to welcome the regiment and to attend the service.

"The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment has long and close associations with Kendal, which we cherish and look forward to continuing," said Brigadier Frazer Lawrence, Colonel of the Regiment.

"It is therefore a great honour and privilege for us to exercise our Freedom by marching through the town."

Rolling road closures will be in place between 10.45am and 14.30pm, although these are likely to be no more than two periods of 25 minutes.