TRAFFIC will come to a standstill in Salisbury city centre on Saturday when the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment is granted the freedom of the city.

The regiment's colonel-in-chief, the Duke of Edinburgh, will receive the freedom on behalf of the regiment.

The 1st Battalion RGBW will then exercise its right to march through the city centre with bands playing, bayonets fixed and colours flying.

The ceremony starts at 11.30am on Choristers Green, in the Cathedral Close, where the duke and the Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire will receive the royal salute.

After inspection, Mayor Jeremy Nettle will address the parade and the freedom scroll will be read out.

The duke will respond and a fanfare in honour of the city will be played before the parade, led by the Lucknow Band of the Prince of Wales's Division, passes out of the Close, and follows a route that will take it through the city centre.

Old comrades and a combined guard of the Rifle Volunteers, the Territorial Army unit attached to 1 RGBW, and the Army Cadet Force and Combined Cadet Force will join the parade.

The duke will take the eyes right from a dais in the Guildhall Square. A reception at the Guildhall will follow.

The ceremony of granting freedom goes back to the 18th Century. The freedom of Salisbury was first granted to the Wiltshire Regiment in 1947, for its bravery during World War II, when it was received by the then colonel of the regiment, General Sir William Platt.

Field Marshal Montgom-ery received the honour in 1949 and the 4th Battalion (Territorial Army) the Wiltshire Regiment formed a guard of honour.

The Wiltshires amalgamated with the Royal Berkshire Regiment in 1959, to form the Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment (Berkshire and Wiltshire), and the freedom was extended to the DERR in 1974, although no ceremony was held because the regiment was on duty in Northern Ireland.

When the DERR amalgamated with the Gloucester-shire Regiment in 1994, the freedom of entry lapsed, but now, after a ten-year gap, the mayor and charter trustees of New Sarum will confer the honour anew on the RGBW.

"It gives us all great pleasure to exercise our freedom of Salisbury, maintaining our proud heritage and regional links," said Lieutenant Colonel Nick Welch, commanding officer of 1 RGBW.

"This will be a great day for our soldiers and the city of Salisbury."

This could be the first and only time the RGBW exercises its rights under the freedom, as defence cuts may have implications for the regiment's future.

Currently based at Hounslow, the regiment has served in Bosnia, Cyprus, the Falklands, Northern Ireland and Kosovo.

Its soldiers are currently serving as guards on ceremonial duty at Buckingham Palace.

The regiment's links with the Wardrobe, in the Cathedral Close, date from 1979, when the DERR took over the building for use as its regional headquarters and museum.