THE Worcestershire & Sherwood Foresters have marched through the city for the last time.

The 1st Battalion, nicknamed the Woofers, executed its final Freedom of the City parade before it merges to become part of the 2nd Battalion of the Mercian Regiment next year.

Soldiers dressed in all eight battalion uniforms including the Blues used for Royal duties and desert combats recently worn in Afghanistan, marched from Dancox House, in Silver Street, up City Walls Road and along the High Street before falling out at the Cornmarket car park.

They were followed by Private Derby XVIII - the regiment's ram mascot.

A crowd gathered outside the Guildhall where the Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire Michael Brinton and the Mayor of Worcester Coun Ian Imray took the salute.

The light rain did not put shoppers off stopping in the streets to applaud as the soldiers passed.

Watching the parade was Jean-Luc Miraux, senateur-maire of Vernon in France, which was liberated by the Worcestershire regiment in August 1944. Flag-bearer Alex Garrard, from Worcester, said there were not too many nerves before the parade but everybody knew it was special.

"We're used to it, we do it outside Buckingham Palace but this did feel special. Normally when I'm on the High Street I'm popping into HMV," he said.

Lieutenant Colonel Richard Westley, who went to school in Worcester, was pleased with the reception they got.

He said: "We thought the rain might have put people off. We went down City Walls Road and when we got on to the High Street there were so many people, I could feel the boys behind me straighten up."

It was not only the last chance to see the Woofers but an opportunity to meet representatives from the Staffordshire and Cheshire regiments who will combine with the Woofers to create the new Mercian regiment in late 2007.