MILITARY heroes were celebrated at a parade to mark Armed Forces Day.

About 70 soldiers from the 1st Battalion Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment (PWRR) and the Band of the Blues and Royals marched through Brighton and Hove on Saturday morning.

The Freedom of the City Parade left the Hove Peace Statue at 11am before following a route along the seafront, West Street and North Street to arrive in New Road at about 11.20am.

The Lord Lieutenant of East Sussex Peter Field, mayor Brian Fitch and the Colonel of the Regiment Brigadier Richard Dennis OBE took the salute and completed proceedings with an inspection, speeches and presentations.

The event was followed by a parade of veterans and cadets and performances of wartime music from Vintage 5 Live and Rockabellas.

A Chattri exhibition was held at the Unitarian Church in New Road, which included a talk on how India became involved in the First World War and how some of the soldiers came to be hospitalised in Brighton. Letters written by the Indian soldiers hospitalised in the city were read out by residents.

The Chattri memorial on the South Downs honours the Indian soldiers who died fighting for the British Empire in the First World War.

In Worthing scores of stalls, events and exhibitions were on show at a event in Steyne Gardens.

The celebrations included the chance to get up-close-and-personal with military vehicles and talks from ex-service men and women.

A parade of veterans, emergency services and cadets, arena displays and stalls were among the attractions in Seaford.

The start of Armed Forces Week was marked with a flag raising ceremony at the Sussex County Cricket Ground in Hove last Monday.