Troops have marched through the streets of the County Town today following the inauguration of the new mayor, Cllr John Perry.

The civic parade saw members of 36 Engineer Regiment and The Queen’s Gurkha Engineers on the streets of Maidstone with bayonets fixed, exercising a right held as freemen of the borough.

At the head of the parade were the Mayor and Mayoress, John and Jan Perry, who led the procession in a horse-drawn landau carriage.

With the government planning to close Invicta Park barracks in the near future, today’s celebrations may prove to have been one of the last chances to see servicemen parading through the town.

The service personnel were joined by contingents from many civilian groups, such as the Cubs, Scouts and Guides, the Red Cross and the Freemasons.

There were a number of rolling road closures in place to allow the parade to pass through the streets of the town.

The procession followed the first full council meeting since the local elections on May 2, at which members decided who would run Maidstone council for the next four years.

For the first time, the borough is being led by a member of the Green Party.

The Green and Independent Alliance, which won 14 of the 49 seats, has signed an agreement with the Liberal Democrat group, which won 12 seats, to form a partnership to run the council for the next four years.

Stuart Jeffery from the Greens will be the council leader, with Clive English, leader of the Lib Dem group, as his deputy.

Speaking ahead of today’s civic parade, Cllr Jeffery said: “It will be an honour to lead the council.

“There is a huge amount of work to do to reduce inequalities, ensure there is enough social housing, to reduce pollution and ensure that the borough improves its resilience for the future.”