WET weather drove veterans indoors for a ceremony to mark Armed Forces Day at Poole Civic Centre.

However the Armed Forces Day flag was raised on the flagstaff of the building, where it will fly for the remainder of the week.

Around 30 people, including veterans, attended the ceremony, held to commemorate the service of men and women in the British Armed Forces.

It was to have been held on the steps of the council building near the members' car park.

The High Sheriff of Dorset, Mrs Jennifer Coombs, joined Borough of Poole staff, former servicemen and flag bearers for the service taken by the Mayor's Chaplain, the Rev Michael Camp.

Poole Mayor, Cllr Ann Stribley, read the poem Tommy by Rudyard Kipling and after prayers and the Act of Remembrance, everyone fell silent for two minutes to remember those who lost their lives in the service of their country.

Poole is home to a Royal Marines camp at Hamworthy, the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment was merged into The Rifles in 2007 and has an affiliated RN ship, HMS Cattistock.

“It was an honour to join the High Sheriff of Dorset, veterans, staff and colleagues at the beginning of Armed Forces Week to commemorate and remember the enormous debt we owe to those who give their unstinting service to this country,” said the Mayor, Cllr Ann Stribley.

In the New Forest, the special Armed Forces flag was raised over the New Forest District Council offices in Lyndhurst where it will also fly until Saturday.

Chairman Alison Hoare said: "We truly value our local Armed Forces community and recognise the sacrifices made by service personnel, veterans, reservists and their families."

British soldiers are currently deployed in countries ranging from Afghanistan to Canada, while the Royal Navy and Royal Marines have ships, aircraft and submarines across the globe and the RAF has personnel mainly in the Middle East and Cyprus but also in other countries.

And UK military personnel are involved in peace-keeping missions and providing humanitarian aid, enforcing anti-terrorism measures, helping combat the international drugs trade, piracy and trafficking and training forces from other countries.