THE people of Chorley turned out in their hundreds last weekend to pay their respects to the ex-servicemen and women who lost their lives fighting in past conflicts.

Around 200 members of the public gathered along the route of a procession which included ex-servicemen as it made its way from Chorley Town Hall to a service at St Lawrence's Parish Church.

After the service, the parade left the church and visited the cenotaph in Astley Park, Chorley, where 300 people attended the annual Remembrance Sunday ceremony, which this year fell on the 11th day of the 11th month.

Simulated gunfire marked the start of the traditional two minutes' silence, and a lone trumpeter played the Last Post as members of the town's Royal British Legion, forces cadets, Girl Guides, Scouts, Boys Brigade and other organisations fell silent.

At the end of the two minutes, the trumpeter sounded the Reveille, and Lawrence Benyon's poem, which declares 'at the going down of the sun we will remember them', was read out.

Businessman Terry Seeds, himself an ex-serviceman, carried the stars and stripes standard as a gesture of support to the American people in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

He said: "The ceremony and procession were very well received. It was a good turnout and it went down very well."