AN ARMY regiment will parade through Wim-borne’s streets this month three years after being given the Freedom of the Town.

The Rifles were granted the honour in 2010 thanks to then-mayor, Councillor John Burden – and due to a stroke of luck, Cllr Burden will be the serving mayor for the event.

The councillor, whose father and grandfather both served in the armed forces, proposed the measure at a town council meeting in December 2009, and it was formally granted in May 2010.

Cllr Burden said: “It’s really made it for me, that I was the mayor at the time, and I’m the mayor now.

“When I was the mayor three years ago, Rifleman Phil Allen was killed, and his funeral service was held in the Minster because the church at Verwood wasn’t big enough for a full military service.

" Before the service, I went around to all of the businesses to ask if they wouldn’t mind shutting briefly as a mark of respect, and there was a huge response. I was in the church when the cortege passed, but I heard the streets were lined with people wanting to pay their respects, and that drove me forward in thinking about offering the Freedom of Wimborne to the forces.”

Rifleman Allen, 20, was killed in Helmand Province on November 7, 2009.

Cllr Burden said: “I was lucky enough to see the Freedom of Shaftesbury being given when I served as mayor last time.

“It really made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. It will be wonderful to see this happen in Wimborne.”

The parade, led by the Rifles Band, will take place on April 21, starting from the Allenview Road car park at 12.15pm before proceeding through Hanham Road and East Borough to The Square.

Cllr Burden will give a welcome speech at 12.25pm, and present Brigadier Richard Toomey CBE with a scroll granting the Freedom of the Town to the Rifles.

The event will close at 2pm in the Allenview car park after the Rifles Band sounds the retreat.

All are welcome to attend.