PEOPLE across Taunton Deane are gearing up to remember the area's war dead.

The Mayor of Taunton, Cllr Fran Smith, will lead a programme of events for this year's annual observation of Remembrance to honour those who paid the ultimate sacrifice.

Cllr Smith will be joined by a civic party for the events which begin today (Thursday, November 7) with a dedication of the Field of Remembrance.

The short service will take place in at the war memorial in the churchyard at St Mary Magdalene Church at 10.55am.

Veterans will accompany Cllr Smith to the poppy shop in Fore Street and at 12.30pm a wreath will be laid at the Normandy Stone, in Vivary Park.

The Remembrance Sunday (November 10) service will be held at St Mary's at 9.30am.

The civic party, along with veterans, scouts, guides and cadets, will then march through town, with the mayor taking the salute on the steps of the Old Municipal Buildings, in Corporation Street an hour later.

There will be a brief road closure to allow the civic party and the parade to move on to Vivary Park, where the service of remembrance will be held at the war memorial from 10.55am.

Cllr Smith will also lead the two-minutes silence around the Burma Memorial in Taunton town centre at 11am on Monday (November 11), coinciding with the 101st anniversary of the end of the First World War.

A spokesman for the Taunton branch of the Royal British Legion said: "Everyone is invited to share in all of these public acts of remembrance. We will remember them."