THREE Taunton servicemen killed during the Northern Ireland Troubles will be remembered during a ceremony in the town next week.

The names of Private R. V. Jones, who lost his life in 1972, Lance Corporal A. Kennington (1973) and Private J. S. Winter (1988) will be read out during the event in Vivary Park.

People are being invited to congregate at the war memorial at 11am on Wednesday (August 14) as part of the 50th anniversary commemoration of Operation Banner, the deployment of British troops on the streets of Northern Ireland.

The event, which will mirror a national service at the National Memorial Arboretum, will be led by the Rev Adrian Prior-Sankey, chaplain of the Taunton branch of the Royal British Legion.

He said: "We hope that many people will join with local veterans who undertook one or more tours of duty in Northern Ireland during the 38 years of military involvement.

"We will associate with the thousands who will gather at the simultaneous national gathering in Staffordshire and remember with gratitude the service and sacrifice of all those who participated in the longest continuous operation in British military history."

British troops were deployed onto the streets of Northern Ireland on August 14, 1969, in response to growing sectarian unrest.

More than 300,000 service personnel that were deployed there over the following 38 years, during which 1,441 UK armed forces personnel died.