SOLDIERS, resplendent in dress uniform and with swords drawn, bayonets fixed and colours flying, brought pomp and pageantry to the rain-splashed streets of Salisbury on Saturday.

Traffic came to a standstill and shopping stopped for a while, as thousands of people stood in the rain to watch the parade pass by and to catch a glimpse of the soldiers' colonel-in-chief, the Duke of Edinburgh, as he arrived by chauffeur-driven limousine for a reception at the city's historic Guildhall.

The occasion was the granting to Salisbury's county regiment - the 1st Battalion the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire & Wiltshire Regiment - of Freedom of the City, which began with a formal civic ceremony outside the regiment's museum at The Wardrobe, in the Cathedral Close.

The 83-year-old Duke of Edinburgh, dressed in his uniform as colonel-in-chief of the regiment, was met at The Wardrobe by the Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire, Lieutenant General Sir Maurice Johnston, and was presented to regimental and local dignitaries and their wives, including colonel of the regiment General Kevin O'Donoghue, High Sheriff of Wiltshire Lieutenant Colonel James Arkell, Mayor of Salisbury Jeremy Nettle, chairman of Wiltshire county council Allan Peach, chairman of Salisbury district council Patrick Paisey and Salisbury MP Robert Key. Dean of Salisbury the Very Reverend June Osborne was also presented to the duke, as was Wiltshire's new chief constable, Martin Richards.

As the duke left the museum and strolled to Choristers' Green to take the royal salute, it began to drizzle and, by the time he escorted the mayor on a formal inspection of the regiment's soldiers and a contingent of Salisbury and other Wiltshire Army Cadets, the rain had become even heavier.

Members of the city's charter trustees and civic and military guests sheltered under umbrellas, as the mayor officially presented the duke with the Freedom of the City of Salisbury scroll.

Mr Nettle spoke of the city's 200-year link with the regiment and said he was proud to be continuing Salisbury's support for it, and extending its right to march through the streets of the city on all ceremonial occasions with "swords drawn, bayonets fixed, drums beating, bands playing and colours flying".

The regiment was first granted Freedom of the City as the Wiltshire Regiment, in December 1947, and the freedom was extended in 1974, after amalgamation had led to the regiment becoming the Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment (Berkshire and Wiltshire).

When the DERR amalgamated with the Royal Gloucestershire Regiment in 1994, freedom lapsed, but now, after a ten-year gap, the charter trustees have conferred the honour anew.

Accepting the scroll, the Duke of Edinburgh said the whole regiment felt "pleased and honoured" by the city's gesture of support.

Then, referring to the various regimental amalgamations over the years, he said: "I would like to think we shall now be allowed to settle down a bit.

"But I suspect we have not seen the end of changes in the army, as it is asked to meet the challenges of modern times."

Old comrades of the Wiltshire, Berkshire and Wiltshire regiments and a combined guard of the Rifle Volunteers, the Territorial Army unit attached to 1 RGBW, were also at the ceremony and later joined the parade through the city centre.

As the duke arrived for the civic reception rounding off the event, he received a spontaneous burst of applause from the big crowd and waved back to them as he walked up a red carpet into the Guildhall.