A CEREMONY has been held to open the Garden of Remembrance in York today.

The ceremony, organised by the York branch of The Royal British Legion, saw dozens of people and many veterans gather for prayers, hymns and tributes to those who gave their lives for the country.

Reverend Canon Peter Jones led the prayers at the South Africa War Memorial in Duncombe Place, before the Last Post and Reveille were played by musicians from the York Railway Institute Golden Rail Band, and veterans and members of the public laid tributes and wreaths.

Bob Burrows is a veteran of the Royal Corps of Signals and saw active duty in Brunei and Borneo, and attended with his family, including seven-month-old grandson Luca, who had travelled from Chesterfield for the occasion.

He said: "It's really nice to see little Luca here.

"This is the start of the remembrance period and from here on we go to the festival of remembrance on Sunday, the remembrance parade next week and Armistice Day on November 11."

Lord Mayor of York Sonja Crisp was in attendance and laid a wreath on the memorial following the service.

She said: "It's more important as the years go on as we have less and less veterans and it's important we remember them, and our children remember what they did.

"The Lord Mayor's consort's father was an engineer on landing craft, and my father escaped Nazi occupied Denmark and was put in the Merchant Navy during the war as a teenager, so it's good for us to come and remember them. It's incredibly important as time goes on and I'm so pleased so many people and tourists have come by and stopped for the ceremony too."

The 25th York Festival of Remembrance takes place at York Barbican on Sunday evening from 7pm.