A POPULAR day to celebrate the Armed Forces will return to Workington later this year - with residents being encouraged to join the event.

Armed Forces Day will return to the town, for the first time since Covid put a halt to the event two years ago.

The day was celebrated last year, but had to be scaled back due to restrictions.

In the past 13 years the event has donated more than £35,000 to the Royal British Legion and has become a huge celebration for Armed Forces personnel and veterans around the county.

This year, Armed Forces Day will be held on Saturday, June 25 with a parade through the town centre followed by a celebration in the Royal British Legion.

A spokesman for the organising committee said: "It is a day where the people of Workington and our friends in neighbouring towns are encouraged to come to Workington and celebrate our fantastic Armed Forces, past, present and future and the part they play in our community, our country and the world we live in.

"This is a happy occasion where we are celebrating and paying homage to all of our Armed Services and after Covid and dark times over the past two years there is a glimmer of hope, and in the words of the late great Dame Vera Lynn … keep smiling through just like you always do ….we’ll meet again.

"We will of course raise a glass and pause to remember those people we have lost."