An ex-RAF serviceman from Ashford has branded a Remembrance Day service in the town “a disgrace” because the two-minute silence was started four minutes early.

John Hopkin, 72, said he was outraged that the traditional 11am silence at the war memorial on Sunday started instead at 10.56am.

He said: “A lot of us realised the silence had started early and were absolutely outraged.

“When I asked the vicar why and how did it happen, he just said they just started earlier.

“Well that’s not good enough. 11am is a significant time in history. It’s not just a number plucked out of the air.

“At 10.58am on November 11, in 1918, Lawrence Price was shot dead.

“At 10.59am Henry Gunter was the last soldier to be shot dead.

“So how the hell can we have a remembrance silence before 11am? I just can’t believe it.

“There was a veteran there who was covered in medals.

“He had a tear in his eye and said, ‘That has really hurt me’.

“It was disgusting and it’s embarrassing.

“It is an insult to the dead.”

Mike Wiggins, a member of the Royal British Legion (RBL) who previously volunteered as the parade marshal, said he was sorry for the error.

Mr Wiggins, who has been volunteering with the RBL for over 25 years, said the human error occurred due to the appointment of a new parade marshal.

He said: “I take full responsibility for the error as it was my job to train the new marshal.

“There were only one or two minor hiccups, there wasn’t anything major, the service ran as it was meant to but we started a few minutes early.

“Nobody had the same time on their watch and I can only apologise if the mix-up upset people.”

Chairman of the Royal British Legion Ashford branch, Gomba Sherpa, said: “It was human error. We did synchronize our watches with the parade marshal and vicar, but didn’t realise they were a little fast.

“We’ve only had one complaint.

“Everyone else seemed happy; many people came up to us and said it was an excellent parade.”

Former branch vice-president Tony Hall said no disrespect was meant by the error.

He added: “There were thousands of people here on Sunday.

“A lot of people came up to us and said it was the best parade ever.

“Only one person complained. This is not representative of Ashford.”

The tradition of holding a two-minute silence marks the time that the guns fell silent on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month on the Western Front in 1918, marking the end of the First World War.