More than 12,000 people have signed a petition to ‘save’ local Remembrance Sunday parades.
The petition has called on the Government to provide local councils or police with extra money after an alleged policy change that means roads cannot be closed for parades.
It states that local communities must now “contract a road traffic management company to close the roads at a cost of thousands of pounds”.
Mr T Miller, who started the petition on April 2, claimed that local communities are “devastated” as their local parades or remembrance Sunday services are “being lost forever”.
Mr Miller said that local councils do not have funds for the events to take place and police are no longer able to close roads due to the change in policy.
“Soldier’s [sic], have died in 2 world wars and various other conflict since,” he wrote. “We need to ensure they are remembered in a fitting manner.”
He added: “These parades need to be saved for future generations so they understand the ultimate sacrifice that was made by these men and women.”
The Government responds to all petitions that get more than 10,000 signatures. Petitions that reach 100,000 signatures will be considered for debate in Parliament.
The Department for Transport (DfT) confirmed that no policy changes have taken place on a national level. It said that with the exception of Remembrance Sunday at the Cenotaph in London, organisation of these events in the UK has always been a "wholly local matter".
A spokesperson for the DfT said: “The petition has been written on the mistaken assumption that policy has been changed. There has been no national policy change.
"Local authorities continue to be responsible for arranging the road closures and determining how they are managed."
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In October, campaigners in Leicestershire accused officers of breaking Remembrance Sunday tradition after the police force said manning the roads was affecting their day-today operations, according to the Express.
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