WEYMOUTH’s annual Remembrance Day seafront parade has been scrapped for this year and will be replaced with a small service at Nothe Fort.

Council bosses have made the decision in the interests of public safety amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Thousands of spectators annually attend the Remembrance Day event, which is one of the town’s biggest supported civic events and usually features a parade of military vehicles and veterans along the seafront.

But this year’s service at Nothe Fort will be closed to the public and feature only a handful of representatives from the military, veterans associations and the council.

It will be live-streamed on Weymouth Town Council’s Facebook page on Sunday, November 8.

Weymouth Mayor, Councillor Graham Winter, said: “The Town Council takes great pride in its civic responsibilities and events, embracing and recognising Weymouth’s relationships with veterans associations, the armed forces, emergency services, and key workers.”

“The Remembrance Day service and parade on Weymouth seafront is one of the biggest and most well supported annual civic events. It has been a difficult decision to relocate the event to the Nothe Fort, but this will enable us to manage it safely for the benefit of all those attending.”

“We also plan to broadcast the service live on the Weymouth Town Council Facebook page to ensure that those who are unable to attend in person can still feel part of the event.”

The arrangements for this event are being kept under constant review in order to take into account any updated national guidance on Remembrance Day events.