A week of celebrations honouring armed forces personnel past and present will begin today in Workington.

At 10.30am this morning, Allerdale House will host a special flag-raising ceremony to kickstart a series of events leading up to the national Armed Forces Day, on Saturday.

Led by the mayor of Allerdale, councillor Hilary Harrington, the ceremony will be also be attended by representatives from the armed forces.

Members of the public wishing to pay tribute are encouraged to attend.

Allerdale councillor Peter Little, designated armed forces champion among council members, urged as many people as possible to come along - and to gather in the Allerdale House car park for 10.15am.

“I would urge everyone in the area to attend the Armed Forces Day events,” he said.

“They are a great way to pay your respects to the brave men and women who’ve served our country so well.

“Speaking as an ex-member of the armed forces myself, it means a great to current and former services personnel to see people to support these kind of events.”