SUNDAY’S rememberance parade went so well it left the mayor feeling prouder than ever before.

David Tee, mayor of Brentwood, attended the parade in Brentwood High Street before going to the memorial service at St Thomas of Canterbury Church.

After visiting the newly refurbished memorial statue, in Brentwood town centre, Cllr Tee took the salute with John Norris, Deputy Lieutenant of Essex, as members of the Armed Forces, dating back to the Second World War, marched down the street led by the Royal Legion Marching Band.

Hundreds of people lined the main roads in the town to show their appreciation for the service given by the Armed Forces present and past.

The number of people lining the streets, the soldiers and Armed Forces representatives who took part, left Cllr Tee feeling emotional. He felt things could not have gone better.

Cllr Tee added: “After Sunday’s parades I have never felt so proud to call myself the mayor of Brentwood.

“When I took the salute as the men and women in our forces marched through the town, I thought they were really doing themselves proud as well.

“There were so many people out showing their respects and they were well behaved. In some places it was too deep to see all the people cheering and clapping.”

At the service in St Thomas’s, a local soldier who served in Afghanistan last year addressed the congregation. Extra chairs were needed to fit everyone in.

Brentwood Cathedral also held its own remembrance service with a choral mass.

Martin Boland, the cathedral’s Dean, blessed a poppy wreath at the war memorial statue in the churchyard.