AS a freedom parade it had it all - the Princess Royal, brass band music, tanks roaring up Winchester High Street and soldiers marching perfectly in step through piles of horse dung.

Hundreds of people lined the streets of Winchester to watch probably the biggest military ceremony of its type since the end of the Second World War.

Certainly never before has a 60-tonne Challenger 2 tank been parked next to King Alfred's statue in The Broadway.

The ceremony provided many sights and sounds not normally heard in the bustling city centre - the whinnying and clip-clopping of horses' hooves on the road, the gentle shuffling of hundreds of feet as the soldiers straightened lines, the ripple of applause from the crowd, the jangling of officers' spurs, soldiers in crimson coloured trousers carrying swords gleaming in the sunshine and posh ex-officers in bowler hats.

Yesterday the freedom of the city was granted to the King's Royal Hussars - only the sixth regiment to receive the honour.

Royal inspection

The princess, regimental Colonel-in-Chief, inspected the troops and accepted the freedom scroll from the mayor Neil Baxter.

Thanking him, she said: "Today, all recruits receive their initial training in Winchester and they no doubt have very particular attachments and memories, possibly mixed, of the city. It will link us even more firmly with the city of Winchester."

She then took the salute from the steps of the Guildhall as the 200 soldiers marched around King Alfred's Statue and then, followed by three Scimitar light tanks, proceeded up the High Street, around the Westgate and into Peninsula Barracks.

They marched with several officers mounted on huge black horses and accompanied by the Band of Hussars and Light Dragoons.

Watching from the steps of the Guildhall were civic dignatories including Hampshire's Chief Constable Paul Kernaghan, the Recorder of Winchester, Judge Michael Brodrick and numerous city councillors, past and present, in their ceremonial red and blue robes.

After the parade the VIPs, officers past and present and their families attended a reception in the Guildhall. The celebrations had started earlier in the morning with a service in the cathedral.

The princess later departed as she had come, by helicopter from the playing fields of Winchester College.

Her presence ensured tight security with nearly 40 police officers involved. Sniffer dogs were on patrol and all the rubbish bins had security covers.

The ceremony met with widespread approval. Jim Sykes, 62, of Eastleigh, said: "It was very good. It's important to be reminded of the importance of the military. These soldiers were risking their lives for liberty in Iraq only last year."

Special occasion

Cllr Baxter said: "This is a very special occasion in the history of the city, particularly so because of the royal presence. It reinforces the links between Winchester and the armed forces."

Colonel Nicholas Orr, the regiment's commanding officer, said: "We are delighted to be able to exercise the freedom of this great city. Our soldiers are trained nearby and we are stationed only 20 miles away. We have been looking forward to it for several months."

The arrival of 14 coachloads of soldiers at rush hour caused congestion on Bar End Road. The closure of the bus station entrance onto the Broadway forced passengers to pick up their buses in Eastgate Street, Friarsgate and Middle Brook Street.