OVER two thousand people packed the streets of Melksham town centre to pay their respects to the fallen on the centenary of the end of the First World War.

Organisers said the numbers were unprecedented as the town turned out in force to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day 1918.

The parade took veterans, civic leaders, families and the town’s organisations from the King Street car park to the Melksham War Memorial in Canon Square.

The service was led by the Vicar of St  Michael’s & All Angels Church, Reverend Barry Blackford, and included the Act of Remembrance, the Kohima Epitaph, a poem by Sigfried Sassoon read by the town’s mayor, Cllr Adrienne Westbrook, the Last Post, the two minutes silence and the Reveille.

Cllr Westbrook said: “It was very poignant. There must have been several thousand people there. Church Street was packed.”

A service was held afterwards at St Michael’s & All Angels Church, followed by the laying of up to 25 wreaths by individuals and organisations.

Cllr Westbrook added: “There were speakers outside the church to relay the service to all those people who were standing outside.”

The Remembrance Day service was followed by refreshments at Melksham Assembly Hall for those who took part in the parade.

The service was organised by Trevor Patterson, of Melksham Royal British Legion and Melksham Town Council.

During the weekend, more than 700 people visited the Melksham Remembered Project exhibition at Melksham Town Hall.

The Friends of Shurnhold Fields also planted more than 183 trees at the site of a new mini country park on the former George Ward playing fields on Saturday morning in the pouring rain.

The 200 trees represent all the people from Melksham who died during the two world wars and other armed conflicts.

A project led by Cllr Kathy Iles also featured the names of the fallen being written on pebbles, each with a red poppy on, which were placed at the foot of the War Memorial.