HISTORY was made on Thursday (Sept 19) when the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers celebrated their Freedom of Bury.

Spectators young and not-so-young lined the procession route as the 2nd Battalion marched through the town centre yesterday morning.

The grand military parade was the first time in 28 years that the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers had exercised its Freedom of Bury Privilege to parade with "drums beating, bands playing, colours flying and bayonets fixed".

The privilege was initially granted by Bury Council to the XX the Lancashire Fusiliers (LF) in 1946. When the LF merged with the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers in 1968, the privilege was transferred.

However, the local authority re-conferred the Honorary Freedom of Bury upon the Royal Regiment in 1974.

The Mayor of Bury, Councillor John Smith, said: "This is a homecoming for the borough's adopted regiment. This parade was to do with celebrating our history and links with the Fusiliers."