THE human cost of military action, both past and present, was contemplated at yesterday's Remembrance Sunday Service in Basingstoke.

The Reverend Dr Richard Turnbull, of Christ Church, Chineham, addressed the large crowd gathered around the cenotaph in London Road, and his first comments were on the enormity of the events of September 11.

"We are fighting against tyranny, but war must not be glorified or used to excess," he warned, before remembering the victims of terrorism and those caught up in the conflict in Afghanistan in his prayers.

Wreaths were laid by many representatives from local organisations, including the armed forces, ex-services organisations, the emergency services and the Basingstoke army, air and sea cadets, as well as by the town's mayor, Cllr Rose Wellman.

The colleges and secondary schools of the town were also well represented.