Thousands join call to save the Staffords

More than 4,000 signatures have been collected on a petition to save the former Staffordshire Regiment.

Under the current Government plans, the 3rd Battalion the Mercian Regiment, will disappear as part of cuts that will reduce the Army from 102,000 troops to 82,000 by the end of the decade – the lowest level since the Napoleonic Wars.

The move will break a 300-year direct link between the region and the military.

A protest calling for a Government rethink on plans to axe the 3rd Battalion the Mercian Regiment, formerly the Staffords, will take place next week as part of a nationwide campaign.

The event, organised by the Lichfield branch of Staffordshire Regiment Association, will takes place in the city next Tuesday.

It comes as demonstrations across the rest of the UK are also set to take place.

A Facebook group under the name of Dave Gouldingay has been set up ahead of the protest in Lichfield.

The event will take place in the Lichfield Garden of Remembrance. People are asked to be there at 10.45am for a 11am start.

Mr Gouldingay said: "What happens to all of these thousands of people when they are made redundant – how many more ex-soldiers are going to end up on the streets?

"We will be holding the protests at 11am, the same time as Armistice Day is marked, to remember all the soldiers' lives who have been lost and to think about all the ones that could die in action in the future."

The regiment merged with two others to form the Mercians in 2007, with 3Mercian being referred to as "formerly the Staffords".

The Army is to lose 17 major units in the cuts.