HUNDREDS of people paid their respects to the country’s war dead at Remembrance Sunday parades and services across Huntingdonshire.

In St Neots, a record number of residents gathered for a parade from Waitrose car park to the war memorial, followed by a service in the parish church.

Mayor Gordon Thorpe said more than 200 people were in attendance.

He said: “Because the current conflict in Afghanistan is in everybody’s minds, we are getting more people coming to Remembrance Sunday services. We actually had to put extra seats out in the parish church.”

In the evening Captain Graham Goodey, Captain Tom Clark and Corporal Gilbert Owusu of the 1st Battalion Royal Anglian regiment, D Company described their experiences on the frontline to an audience at the Great Hall in Priory Centre.

Mr Thorpe said: “They gave a 45 minute presentation on their recent tour of Afghanistan, how they clear the mines and make areas safe for villagers, and help them to grow wheat instead of poppies.

“The media always tell about the body bags coming home, but they do not tell about the successes out there. The audience left with an understanding of what in actual fact the game plan is in Afghanistan, which is to enable the local people to take charge of their own fate.”

There were also parades and services in Huntingdon, St Ives and Ramsey. For full coverage see this week’s Hunts Post, out on Wednesday.